Happy Thursday

 Today was my favorite day of the week -- my morning at the food pantry. My particular job is "outside." I sit at the intake table, signing each of the guests in and processing their special requests. I also sign in donations. I make a little slip of paper for each guest and give it to one of the runners that work with me; they go and get the cart of prepacked bags and whatever specials the guest has requested. They also enter necessary information in the computer.

It's never the same two Thursdays in a row; it can be slow and steady or it can be crazy busy. Today was one of the latter. And the two regular runners were both having a week off for family time. The substitute runner was a woman who has been away from the pantry for several months and who was slightly rusty on procedure and admitted to having a heavy lifting restriction. No matter, with Beth's help and also help from Harry-who-can-do-anything, we served about thirty families in three hours. In addition to the regular four bags of food plus three extra items, today we had on offer either a turkey or a chicken (noted on the paper slip for each guest) and also had $25 gift cards to the big grocery chain (four-digit number also noted on the paper slip). It was busy. And it was cold -- I'd seen on the weather forecast that it was about 52 so I wore a light raincoat. I neglected to check the wind chill factor . . . Brrrr!

There were donations today. Lots of donations. Big donations. Lots of big donations. Donations from synagogues and churches in the area. Donations from a Boy Scout troop. And donations from generous individuals. Beth mentioned that there were a lot more donations than when she was there last and we talked about how even when things are as terrible as they currently are, there's still something good to focus on and today it was how this troublesome time gives people the opportunity to be their best selves.

Guest Kate came today. She'd walked 1.2 miles in each direction to come. She told me, "I checked my balance and have thirteen cents in my SNAP account." Thirteen cents. She headed towards home with a bulging backpack and two heavy bags. 1.2 miles. In a jacket than wasn't anywhere near warm enough. 

Guest Valerie also came today. She has a lovely baby in a stroller and she tends to be a bit abrupt. I know she never thought she'd be shopping at a food pantry. But today when she came at a particularly crazy time, when there were eight or nine guests surrounding my table, she was unusually patient. And thanked us profusely for the gift card.

And then there was Guest Andrea. She came with her husband and adorable daughter. Her other five children are in school. Andrea's usually very quiet and sometimes it's crossed my mind to wonder if the husband is abusive. But not today! There she was in the middle of this crowd of guests and she called out in a loud voice, saying "Listen! Listen everybody! I just want to make sure everyone knows about the Community Fridge in [the next town over]!" And then she went on to tell how it is located at the Episcopal church on the main drag, and it's outside and sheltered and apparently it is open all of the time. The other guests listened up; they were very interested and asked Andrea to clarify the location and provide directions. Some were writing it down. And then a couple of the others -- including stern Valerie -- began telling about other pantries that they'd discovered in the general area. All of them forgetting who was next in line in their eagerness to share with each other in an amazing spirit of community. 

I loved it.

There's a food pantry near you, dear reader. If you've donated there in the past, please do it again. And if you haven't donated before, please think about donating now. Y'know, it would. make a lot of difference to a woman who's down to her last thirteen cents.