Groceries for Neighbors in Need – Charlotte, NC Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry

Our guest blogger is Margery Adams, a spring intern from UNCC. Margery shares her thoughts about the true meaning of hunger through an open letter to other students.  

A note to my fellow students:

I say this so often it seems to be my life motto these days. “I’m hungry”, “There’s nothing here to eat”, “Why is take-out so expensive”, “Do I have enough money in my bank account for Taco Bell so I don’t have to eat the canned peas in my pantry”, we’ve said them all before. Scavenging for food off of my friends dinner plates, inviting my parents up to see my apartment…and take me out to dinner, ramen noodles every night- sometimes I act like I haven’t eaten for days. I thought I had it so bad, like every other college student. It wasn’t until I started interning at Loaves & Fishes that I realized how ignorant and blind I had truly been. I wasn’t hungry, I was picky. I was used to home cooked meals, eating out at my favorite restaurants and dinner leftovers from my brother who lived ten minutes down the road. Never once had I experienced an empty pantry, never once had my belly gone un-fed. It wasn’t until I was fully submerged in my work at Loaves & Fishes that I realized how many people in the Charlotte area had, in fact, experienced a growling belly, a limited amount of food on their empty pantry shelves, and the uncertainty of where their next meal would come from. I found that my meaning of “hungry” was strikingly different from theirs.

I was humbled the first time I visited the pantry at Holy Comforter and met some of the visiting clients. They weren’t just grabbing different foods and throwing them in their cart. They definitely weren’t trying to decide which snack would be better at 2 in the morning. They were busy calculating the meals they would make for their families in the weeks to come. Strategically planning their children’s packed lunches for school. They were choosing food that would keep their bellies full and satisfied. Why couldn’t I put that kind of thought into buying groceries? I suddenly knew why. I was never nervous about where my next meal would come from. If worse came to worse, I could eat those canned peas that had been sitting patiently in my pantry. Some people don’t have that sense of comfort. Some people don’t have that can of peas waiting.

And so I urge you fellow students, the next time you open that fridge and mutter, “There’s nothing here to eat”, perhaps you should reevaluate what your meaning of “nothing” really is.

Good days and bad days….days of calm and days of chaos. We all have them. At Loaves & Fishes today we are beginning a new season – holidays are over, Scouting for Food on Feb. 2 was a rousing success, and we just held an Open House for all our friends and supporters to see our enlarged warehouse space, renovated offices and celebrate the Snyder’s-Lance company’s donation of “Lancey” – a beautiful new 18-foot delivery truck!

And although we expect calmer and quieter days ahead, we know that things keep happening – life will bring surprises both good and bad. I have spent some time travelling in Alaska and have been fascinated each visit by watching glaciers calve – the timeless breaking off of huge chunks of snow and ice which slide down into the sea. There is no warning but a deafening roar as the ice hits the water. I often think about that during chaotic days here – no matter what is going on in Charlotte, or in my life, the glaciers in Alaska are continuing their eternal activity.

And so does the heart of Loaves & Fishes keep beating – volunteers continue to appear at the phone center daily to take food referrals and operate our 19 food pantries and show up at the warehouse to sort and pack donated food. Individuals and churches faithfully send money so that we can purchase perishables. The glaciers continue their slow slide to the sea and Loaves & Fishes continues to provide food to hungry families no matter what kind of day we’re having – which fills me with both comfort, that it’s not all about me, and gratitude.

Guest Post By Rebecca Novak Tibbitt
Charlotte Observer/MomsCharlotte.com

Did you get an empty grocery bag on your doorstep this weekend? You know, the one with a note stapled to it asking to be filled with food? Before you ignore it or use it to recycle yesterday’s Observer, take a minute to think about how it got there, and where it’s going.

A week or so before its journey to your doorstep, hundreds (thousands?) of boys and their parents at Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs in the Mecklenburg area got together for a “stapling” party to assemble the bags. Thousands and thousands of bags.

Then, last Saturday, the day after an ICE STORM hits our region, hundreds (thousands?) of boys and their parents, hit the pavement. Door to door, dropping off bags. One by one. Boys, who would have otherwise been told to stay inside on a freezing and icy January morning, were not only told to go outside, but encouraged to, for the sake of doing a “good turn.” You could practically see the character being built.

So, what’s next?

Here’s the super fun and easy part where you come in: fill the bag. Then, Saturday, February 2, put it outside by 9:00am. That’s it. The Cub Scout motto – one of my favorites – is “Do Your Best.” So try to put in some good stuff like canned meat and fruit if you can.

Get your kids involved by picking out items at the store or from your own pantry. Talk to them about why it’s important to help a friend or neighbor in need. And being thankful for what we have. The boys will be back to pick it up, and then spend the next several hours sorting, sorting and sorting some more, building character all the while. Then, that food, all of that glorious food, will go off to Loaves & Fishes and directly into the hands of people who need it.

Last year, “Scouting for Food” netted 255,000 pounds of food. That’s a seriously crazy amount of food. And, like the good Boy Scouts that they are, they want to beat that number this year. Loaves & Fishes is a pretty awesome organization that provides a week’s worth of nutritious groceries to families facing short-term financial crisis in Mecklenburg County at 19 food pantries in the area. Check out their website, and you might be surprised to see (like I was) that there’s a food pantry right around the corner from you.

And if you didn’t get a bag? You’re not off the hook. You can still donate at Harris Teeters and a number of other area drop-off locations. There’s a lot of Boy Scouts out there who could use a little more character. And even more of our neighbors who need a lifeline. For more information, visit www.loavesandfishes.org.

ONCE UPON A TIME, in a land not so far away….a newspaper reporter wrote a story about the rising number of hungry people and the declining amount of food Loaves & Fishes had to feed them. And in that same land, a very benevloent man and his wife read that story and wanted to help. They presented Loaves & Fishes with a challenge – they would match donations up to $50,000!

Sounds like a fairy tale doesn’t it? But it is as real as the needs of the 126,000 people Loaves & Fishes provided food for in 2012. As real as the words written by Charlotte Observer reporter Mark Price. As real as the extremely generous and caring hearts of Leon and Sandra Levine and their Foundation. In ten days, more than $73,000 was donated to help Loaves & Fishes feed hungry people in our community.

And thus it came to pass that there was food in the warehouse and on pantry shelves to provide hot breakfasts, nutritious lunches and wholesome dinners for all those referred to Loaves & Fishes that winter.

After having our administrative offices housed in St. Luke’s Lutheran Church for 23 years we have moved to new offices in our expanded warehouse space. I’ve been surprised at how hard change is in so many ways. It’s ironic because I have spent the better part of the last year telling our pantry volunteers that change is good. I find it not quite so good when it gets personal.

The move is unquestionably the best decision for Loaves & Fishes. We are already seeing time savings, as well as being more efficient with our whole operation under one roof. Personally it was gut wrenching for me (even though it was my idea to move!) 23 years in the same office space – who has that kind of luxury these days? I spent my first 18 years constantly being uprooted – 12 schools in 12 years. Since landing in Charlotte in 1975 I have put down deep roots – same church for 37 years, same house for the past 28 years, same job for 24 years!

I have always said we like change when it is our idea, or somehow benefits us. But I wonder at the amount of stress producing change Loaves & Fishes clients have to deal with every day. Never knowing if the next paycheck will cover all the needs, sometimes not knowing where the next meal for the kids will come from. Really puts my discomfort into perspective.

This summer, we have been blessed to have Anslee Boozer blog about her experience as an intern with Loaves & Fishes.

It seems as though even when our shelves are full, our refrigerators are often empty. After transitioning to the Client Choice model no one seems to be selecting a can of water chestnuts or a box of dry milk. Clients are using their points on yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products. Fresh food is often a luxury item for people experiencing financial instability, so when clients see our pantries’ stainless steel industrial fridges, their eyes light up. They begin to feel as though they are worth more than just a can of water chestnuts. They will be able to make their children a grilled-cheese for lunch, feed their babies yogurt, and stock their refrigerators with food.

Just last week as I was volunteering at the First Presbyterian Church Loaves & Fishes pantry, a lady checked in at the front window to shop for a family of seven. Can you imagine having to prepare and pay for food for 7 people when money is tight? After this sweet woman, Linda, hand selected different cans of food, fresh ground turkey, strawberry yogurt for her little girl, and blueberry yogurt for her older boy, we helped her push her cart out of the pantry door. It took a few of us to load up a week’s worth of groceries for a family of 7! After her car was packed full she reached for my hand and looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you so much. Thank you for all the work you do to make all of this happen. This was the first time that I got to go grocery shopping and it was fun! I did not have to add, calculate, and penny pinch for the groceries that I wanted for my family.”
She later told me that only 2 of her of seven family members were her children. She was caring for her mother and other children who did not have stable homes or safe environments to live in. These are our clients. Our clients are doing good for our community and doing good for so many other people. If we can continue to provide groceries and a fun shopping experience to people like Linda then we are also helping out so many other people. This is how we can make a difference in the community that surrounds us.

Loaves & Fishes loves being able to provide more food choices for our clients; yet, with an increased food selection comes an increased budget. Loaves & Fishes spends $10,000 on cheese and yogurt each month. It is worth every penny that we spend to see smiles and gratitude from our clients like Linda. We hope to be able to continue to provide perishable food such as yogurt and cheese to our clients but we are going to need help from our community. One container of yogurt costs $.39, if you choose to donate $20.00 you would be able to provide 50 containers of yogurt. One packet of cheese costs $1.49, donating $50.00 would allow us to purchase 32 packets of cheese to stock our pantry refrigerators.

Thank you so much for your support and donations to keep our refrigerators stocked full.

We are lucky to have Anslee Boozer interning with us this summer. A rising sophomore & communications major at Furman University, this is Anslee’s second blog about her experiences with Loaves & Fishes! 

Thursday afternoons may be the highlight of my week. I step out of the office away from my comfortable chair and comfort zone and head downtown to serve at the First Presbyterian Loaves & Fishes food pantry.  My first Thursday interning at the pantry was much different from my second Thursday. First Pres. has made the transition to client choice! Clients get to shop in the pantry with one volunteer assisting them to make sure they are on track with the guidelines given to them based on their family size. This system offers so much dignity and empowerment to our clients.

Men and women both loved their first client choice shopping experience. Some stood at our shelves for minutes deciding what item would suit their needs best, while others knew exactly what they wanted and were done shopping in no time! Many clients were a bit overwhelmed at the selection. I began to give recipe and cooking suggestions, pairing different foods and flavors. A lot of great ideas were cooking at the pantry last week! Clients may be enjoying pasta dishes, homemade pizza, a summery green been salad and maybe even some corn salsa this week! With the transition that Loaves & Fishes is making to client choice, we are able to serve our clients better. We are able to meet their needs in a personal way. A lot less food is going to waste because clients are able to select what they like and what they will be able to prepare.

Some of our clients’ teenage children shopped with them and described the experience like getting to shop at Walmart! Client choice empowers not only our customers but also breaks down barriers and boundaries between clients and volunteers. Shopping along side our clients, assisting them aisle by aisle, enabled me to walk in their shoes, experiencing the joy of the new client choice system from their perspective.