everybody deserves food...

"For now I ask no more than the justice of eating." – Pablo Neruda, Nobel Prize winner

I can’t imagine being hungry, as in truly hungry/I have no food hungry. But, there are plenty of people right here in Barrow County, many of them children, who face this challenge each day. The reasons for their plight are many; the solution is simple – be sure those who are hungry, for whatever reason, have access to food.

For the past couple of years I’ve volunteered at one of the places hungry people in our community get food. It’s the monthly Mobile Food Pantry, held at Holly Hill Mall in Winder, on the fourth Thursday of each month, beginning at 9 a.m. – rain or shine. The mobile pantry is sponsored by the Barrow County Cooperative Benevolence Ministries (BCCBM), a non-profit, all volunteer organization.   

The food, some 30,000 pounds of it each distribution, is purchased from the Food Bank of NE GA by whatever organization sponsors the mobile pantry that month. A one month sponsorship costs $800 and $400 co-sponsorships are available. The food varies from month to month, but each month some 450-500 local, low income households receive enough food to light up their eyes and fill their bellies for a few days, a week, or more.

“Our neighbors in need,” as the BCCBM says, start lining up around 5:30 in the morning, no matter the weather, to get a number and stand in line for the food. Income and residence are verified and the need is such that by the time the distribution begins, the parking lot is nearly full and the line loops several times.    

Volunteers do the paperwork, pack the food and help take it to the vans, pick-up trucks, cars, bicycles or places in the parking lot where folks are waiting for their ride. Sometimes it’s one household per vehicle, other times as many as five or six share the cost of gas. Folks on bicycles have to be particularly creative to get their food loaded securely…Last month, I helped three people load their shares into a single shopping cart…”Don’t worry, ma’am,” they said, cheerfully. “We live nearby. Thank you and God Bless.”     

We distribute the food on hot days, cold days, rainy days and in perfect weather. No matter the temperature, the need and mission remain the same – get the food to those who need it as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I am a “runner” at the distributions, meaning I help get the boxes and bags of food to the folks’ cars, etc. I like this job because it gives me a chance to talk with the people and get a glimpse into their lives. I am invariably humbled and put back in touch with how very blessed I am. As with any “hand out” situation, there’s the temptation to evaluate and judge, and as with any service opportunity, those tendencies are best faced and shelved.

Your car may be newer and nicer than mine, but I don’t know what challenges you face or who in your household is going to get this food. You may have nicely manicured nails and talk on a smart phone, but something in your life led you to get into this long line very early in the morning, simply to get a box or two of food…My place is not to judge, but to serve.

Over the months I’ve seen such poignant things and my heart strings have been tugged time and time again…One month a girl my children went to school with waited patiently in the car for her grandmother and I to return with the food. She hugged me warmly, asked after my kids, then said she’d been on a liver transplant list for months, but no donor match, so now she was in liver failure…I don’t know what happened to her, but I’ve not seen her since.

There are sad people and happy people, people who praise the Lord and express excitement about the food, and those who complain that it is too little or not what they had in mind…There are people with clear physical challenges and people doing all they can to help family members…There are old people and young people, middle aged people and kids…It’s the kids who really get me - faces all excited at the sight of things my children took for granted, things like blueberries, strawberries, milk or a few small cartons of fruit yoghurt...

Last month there was asparagus and pineapple in the box. One woman was so excited to see that, tears almost came to her eyes…”I love asparagus and pineapple and I can’t remember the last time I was able to afford them.”   

Some of the people clearly work, hard, out of their vehicles; others seem to be living in them. There are folks with trunks full of who knows what from who knows where; others’ vehicles are so clean we could safely dine off their floors.

My point is, each month the food distribution reminds me, clearly, that “There but by the grace of God, go I.” The people in that line are as varied, interesting, challenged and flawed as the rest of us…We’re all in this together and we all need help sometimes.

Sponsors for the food distribution are always needed and volunteers are always welcome. For information, call BCCBM officers Al Brown, 770-868-7269, or Gwen Hill, 770-867-6546.