Most everybody approves of helping the Fort Bragg Food Bank in its mission of feeding kids and elders and putting to use good food that might otherwise go to waste.
But being helped is a dramatically different story, one that I think is key to understanding long term efforts to repower our own community. Many well-meaning people miss out on the full power of “we” because they won”t let “them” help “me.”
When I share some food I take home as part of doing this first person series to encourage donations to the newspapers” fund drive for the Food Bank, I get a lot of different reactions. Confusion. Amusement. Disapproval. Cocked heads looking at the food as if it might be something different than what we get at the store. A few people eat with me.
But many still don”t see the beauty that comes from both giving and receiving, nor how far the vittles from the Food Bank can travel.
To that end, I decided to take a Food Bank turkey on a journey, “adopting” it before Christmas, then cooking it for the Fort Bragg Lions Club senior dinner.
Several clients I met in line at the Food Bank just before Christmas thought this was weird. Volunteers pointed out that the Lions Club had just donated a huge amount of food. Why was I taking food out to an organization that was bringing food in?
The Lions Club keeps an emergency pantry and empties and restocks it periodically.
but the answer to their question is much bigger than that.
Food Bank warehouse supervisor Lance Nelson understood what I was saying and helped me try to explain my odd mission to bemused Food Bank clients.
“It”s all about the cycle … how everything comes around,” Nelson said.
Exactly.
Nelson is always the fastest moving person at the Food Bank, having a hand in everything that happens, and is always helpful with these stories.
My fellow Lions were mostly too busy chopping and serving when I showed up with the turkey and other Food Bank yummies on Christmas morning. The Lions were also shuttling meals to elder shut-ins, which is actually a big part of the annual free meal. Several churches and other organizations also serve at the holidays.
I had made a risotto out of brown rice, cilantro and butter I got at the Food Bank, which was fairly popular with the older crowd. I had also cooked some giant sweet potatoes, which must have been too enormous, even sliced into pieces and attracted few comers.
Because of the heavy rain, the turnout was less than usual at the dinner, although there were lots of Lions and other volunteers.
There were a few dozen people eating whom I often see at the Food Bank. Getting the turkey and other food cooked is a big deal for some hungry people, pointed out Lavender Irven, among those volunteering. I have learned that when money or food is given to the Food Bank, the food often ends up at the many churches and events where hungry people eat.
Still the theme of giving away free food flummoxed more people I talked to.
David Wolf was one who totally got the idea.
“I came out here because you guys [Lions] helped me out by getting me some eyeglasses that made a big difference in my life,” said Wolf, who spent Christmas serving anybody who would let him.
“I don”t have any family, and it sounds trite, but now I do,” he said. “Serving other people like this on a day like this is really a pleasure, more than most people would imagine.”
The smaller than usual crowd meant lots of turkey and other leftovers. But the free turkey that I had brought from the Food Bank (if any of it was left) wasn”t done working. All the leftover turkey, cranberry slices, pickle relish (lots and lots), rolls and much more went to the Hospitality House for Christmas dinner there. While the rain hurt the Lions” turnout, the Hospitality House was packed with people escaping the weather. An emergency shelter was also open across town.
I got snagged by talkers at the door of Lions Hall and missed the food delivery but met a jovial group of guys having fun with what the Lions had speedily dropped off.
While the Lions helped out a lot on Christmas, the Fort Bragg Food Bank is crucial to most of the approximately 15,000 free meals that residents prepare and eat every year at Hospitality House. The Hospitality House is the place where people who have slipped through the safety net land.
“We supply the Hospitality House with USDA commodities. We bring them deli food from Harvest Market almost daily,” said Nancy Severy, Food Bank executive director.
The Food Bank buys food at wholesale for the Hospitality House and provides it with lots of free brown rice and dried beans. This very nutritious food comes to the Food Bank from a federal court grant program created by fines of vitamin corporations involved in wrongdoing.
“We love working with the Hospitality House. They are a great organization working alongside us to serve the same community need,” Severy said.
The Food Bank provided about 600 turkey, chicken or ham meals this Christmas to client households, Severy said.
The busiest two days of the year are over for the Food Bank. But at the end of every month, the lines will get longer as money from paychecks and government programs runs short and people get hungrier.
“We were glad to be able to serve everybody who came through the door this Christmas,” said Severy. “There is still a great need to serve people throughout the coming year.”
Season of Sharing
This series supports the Advocate-News” and The Mendocino Beacon”s annual Season of Sharing fund drive for the Food Bank. The goal is to give the Food Bank money it can use locally year-round, not just during the holidays.
Last year, $23,013 was donated, which brought the total raised since our first fund drive in 1995 to $185,890.
The nonprofit Community Foundation of Mendocino County administers the Season of Sharing free of charge as a courtesy to the newspapers. Every cent taken in by the newspapers is given to the Food Bank.
Checks should be made out to the Community Foundation of Mendocino County (CFMC), and mailed to the newspaper at P.O. Box 1188, Fort Bragg, 95437, or dropped off at 450 N. Franklin St. If you have any questions, please call us at 964-5642.
The fundraiser runs through this Friday, Dec. 31. Donors” names have been printed each week, unless they asked to remain anonymous. Next week we will print the complete list of all this year”s donors.
As of Tuesday, donations total $31,839. We thank Mabel and Mark Regalia, Craig and Megan Blencowe, Kit and Sandi Mosden, Susan McKinney in honor of Davis Pyorre”s 8th birthday, Jane Vartanian, Mendocino Coast Gem & Mineral Society, Fred and Muriel Morrow, Arnold and Terri Parks, Deborah L. and David Holmer, Joe Mickey and Connie Korbel, Dr. P.P. Coukoulis and one anonymous donor.
