In the parking lot of the Fort Bragg Food Bank, a 53-year-old former used car salesman from Phoenix swapped food with other clients to get just the right stuff for dinner.
His recreational vehicle was parked across the street, and he explained to passersby that he was no chef and wanted easily-prepared food items.
He wore a plaid shirt and horned rim glasses and had that stare salesmen snare buyers with clear across the car lot.
One woman walked by and dodged the stare, nervous.
Then, a 60-year-old Mendocino woman, dressed in a neat round wool cap and stylishly matched thrift shop clothes smiled and stopped, kneeling to unload her two bulging bags from the Food Bank. She said she was a vegetarian and offered him tuna fish and a small frozen sausage pizza.
I went to the Food Bank so I could introduce our readers to the clients and show who benefits from donations to this charity. I found more parents, lifelong locals, working people and seniors than I would have imagined. And I found more than one colorful character.
I can say not every story told anonymously in the Food Bank parking lot is to be believed, but this one seemed plausible. The former salesman works at one of Fort Bragg”s small manufacturing facilities, with which I became familiar as a job developer.
He said he had left Phoenix after 40 years of hard work in several fields and set out for California. He had read some accounts of modern gold miners striking it rich and with the price of gold on the rise, he caught gold fever.
The salesman found no Sierra gold.
Now, he loves the coast and has been living here since summer in his RV — the last one left on his lot back in Arizona — while he figures out what to do next.
Arizona is not an option.
“There are thousands of people flocking there. One thing you don”t hear about is how all the growth there has increased the pollution. It”s really bad.”
He grew up in Oroville and asked me “what kind of town is Oroville now?”
“Horrible,” I replied.
He reacted visibly.
“Dang, that”s what everybody says. I may still give it a try, but it must have really gone downhill.”
Oroville, like the salesman himself, suffers from post gold-fever malaise.
I recommended the nearby towns of Gridley, Chico, Paradise or Grass Valley as places that might be more livable and also have more jobs than Fort Bragg.
Both he and the smartly dressed little lady from Mendocino say the Fort Bragg Food Bank helps them keep moving forward in life with the weekly boost to the bottom line brought by the free groceries.
Both liked the trays of fresh strawberries arrayed outside that day, although picking through was needed to avoid fuzz. At one point a half dozen clients picked through the ripe red fruit, which would have been thrown away in other places.
Clientele increasing
To help me introduce the clients, Executive Director Nancy Severy reviewed the books of the Mendocino Food and Nutrition Program and crunched the surveys that clients filled out.
“The number of clients we serve continues to increase steadily each year (about 8 percent more this year than last year), while our sources of food and funding do not keep pace,” Severy said.
One of the days I went to the Food Bank there were seven kids, one family complete with two youngsters, mom and dad. The number-one age group using the Food Bank is those 18 to 30 years of age. There were also two young single moms, one with a big blond two-year-old who smiled when he said “Food Bank.”
His mom turned down that youngster”s request when he pointed to a bag of colored marshmallows. Unusual items are common Food Bank fare, but probably more delightful to kids than to adults. The Food Bank has developed special ways to make sure local kids don”t go hungry.
“As well as the regular weekly food distribution, we provide an additional bag of healthy food to families with children during the summer and during school vacations when school is out,” said Severy.
She said that each month the Food Bank serves approximately 400 children who are client household members.
When people sign-up for the Food Bank”s weekly food distribution program the following demographic information is gathered by Severy and staff: Monthly income (amount and source), age/birthdate, number and ages of other household members.
Statistics included with this article reflected what I observed. One fact evident was most people were white. Just 10 percent of clients are Hispanic, while 80 percent are white. According to 2000 census data, 23 percent of Fort Bragg residents are Hispanic.
One Hispanic woman I knew from a local motel said many people from Mexico will only use such a charity as an absolute last resort. People like her, who work and don”t qualify for subsidized rent, disability or any other services, need the Food Bank as much or more than homeless people.
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of clients are homeless.
“While we don”t directly ask if clients are homeless, we can deduce this most of the time and keep rough figures on this,” Severy said.
I had some interesting encounters with the homeless, from a talk with a woman about the health effects of mold to two different men who interrogated me at length about what I was doing and who would see my photos, although I hadn”t taken any of those two. One man lectured me about how the news media has precipitated the decline of American culture, an argument I couldn”t entirely disagree with.
One homeless man left a group of four others, charged into the food area and loudly demanded immediate delivery of dog food for his friend”s hungry dog.
The volunteer was non-plused and told the man he would have to sign up and go through the line with everybody else. The man left, muttering. But most of the homeless were alone and seemed to prefer staying that way.
Life on the edge
Severy was very worried about client confidentiality and came up once and asked if I had identified myself as a reporter. I had, but we then decided to get me a nametag that identified me. We found a slip of paper and a safety pin. We wrote “Advocate-News” in large print and my name in smaller print beneath.
As a journalist, I abhor anonymous sources and pressed some people for their names. They wanted to help the Food Bank, but clearly weren”t keen on this, so I pulled back from naming them. However, others wanted their name used and some resented the idea of a stigma surrounding the Food Bank.
A local man I know who works full-time helping people with disabilities was clearly embarrassed to be taking a bag of food. His salary, combined with the lack of government assistance, makes him need the Food Bank for his health and that of his family. But both shame and stigma hit those who work long hours doing hard work for low pay.
A woman I know very well avoided me as she stood in line the day before Thanksgiving. She actually apologized for being there, although she too makes just enough every month to pay her rent and eat, with little margin for error. She said she couldn”t really afford fresh vegetables outside the Food Bank.
“I”m on a fixed income and pay $600 a month in rent, which is most of what I get. Getting good food here makes all the difference.”
The Food Bank obviously boosts the health of many clients.
“There are a lot of people in our community very close to the edge financially and therefore nutritionally,” said Severy. “We”re here to supplement their nutrition to the extent that we can.”
One man who definitely wanted his name used was Tony Anderson. He talked about his recovery and why he needs the Food Bank.
“This place helps so many people,” he said.
As a volunteer, Anderson”s humor and affable nature make clients feel comfortable. He moves easily to the client side of the stainless steel counter to pick out his food.
Anderson”s disabilities keep him from working full-time, but he puts in long hours as a volunteer at the Food Bank. He also volunteers in several other venues, best known as the town”s sporting announcer. Anderson”s booming resonant speech gives him the ability to announce with no microphone, but he wields the mike in venues ranging from kids” football to high school girls” soccer.
“We all are different and have different ways to contribute. I do everything I can to give back to my community,” said Anderson.
Essential resource
A favorite of clients is Jean Jones who started at the Food Bank as a client, went on to volunteer, and is the longest term employee now, the person who greets the clients, most by name.
I met a lot of lifelong local people, who were the most likely of all to not want their name used.
That was not the case with longtime resident Janet Matthews, 88, whose husband, Clarence Matthews, started working at the Union Lumber Company mill and worked through Boise Cascade and Georgia Pacific days as a millwright. She wanted to lend her voice to efforts to help the Food Bank.
“This is a great place, but there isn”t enough food for everybody. You should let people know that.”
Trudy Wells grew up in Fort Bragg and lives on a fixed income, with a part-time job at a local restaurant.
“This Food Bank works hard to provide a nice selection. It really helps out so much with the little costly things that I otherwise couldn”t afford.”
Maria, 71, claims to be related to General Vallejo, a key historical figure in Northern California history. She moved to Elk 16 years ago and says the Food Bank is a great resource for the entire coast, well worth the trip for her.
She is distressed to see the number of people depending on the Food Bank increasing, especially seniors. She says it”s much harder to survive in today”s pricey world. She has six grandchildren.
“They”re all struggling just to survive. I don”t want to have to depend on the kids, and this Food Bank is very important to that.”
The number-two age group at the Food Bank in the surveys was people 51 to 60 years of age. There were several people in that age group who had recently gone from full-time worker to a fixed disability income or part-time worker. Several were escaping the big cities of the Bay Area or Southern California.
“This is the best Food Bank I have ever seen,” said Barbara Wilson, 66, who escaped to Fort Bragg after a career as a housecleaner in Southern California.
Another couple of men who insisted their names be used despite confidentiality issues their program demands were Kip Wells and Justin Potter. The men were in rehabilitation at Primary Purpose, a client-run 12-step-modeled facility in Albion. The men said the help the Food Bank has given them and others at the facility was much more valuable than any confidentiality.
“I want to thank the Food Bank for the great food and for all the help they give the community,” Potter said.
The men were excited about their recovery and talking about the jobs they would get when they were finished.
Freeloaders?
Sharon DiMauro, publisher of our newspapers, and Editor Kate Lee were interested in a more in-depth look into the Food Bank, as it is the charity the newspapers have chosen to support each year since 1995 with the Season of Sharing fund drive. One person asked DiMauro if freeloaders and marijuana growers were among the clients. I promised to check on this.
Frankly, as a real estate agent, I have seen more pot growers come through the door willing and able to buy half-million-dollar real estate parcels than I was able to discern at the Fort Bragg Food Bank. There were certainly some home gardeners and medical users, but there seemed to be few people out to take advantage among so many truly needy.
I asked Severy about dope growers; “Your guess is as good as mine,” said Severy. “If they”re here, they aren”t obvious.”
Freeloaders?
“We don”t look at it this way. If people tell us they need the Food Bank, we honor that.”
Clients at the Food Bank actually seemed very sensitive about the issue of freeloaders. Although I heard that some people sometimes take more than their share, I didn”t see that and was impressed by how careful these low-income folks were not to overstuff bags. The salesman actually could have gone back and taken more without much resistance, rather than resorting to the fun of barter in the parking lot.
Severy gave me a quote by email that seemed to sum up the people I saw.
“We have many clients who have serious health problems or disabilities, for whom the Food Bank is a necessity. For some clients going through crisis, the food we provide may literally help them survive. For other people with more stable situations but low income, such as seniors on fixed income and working families with children, we help make ends meet from month to month.”
Next week we will look at where the food and funds come from, including local and government sources. The New York Times reported on its front page last week that food banks everywhere are having their toughest time ever.
Season of Sharing
The goal of the Advocate-News and Mendocino Beacon”s Season of Sharing fund drive is to raise a substantial chunk of money that the Food Bank can draw on year-round, not just during the holidays when donations tend to flow most freely. This year”s target is $20,000.
The Community Foundation of Mendocino County administers the Season of Sharing free of charge as a courtesy to the newspapers, so every cent goes to the Food Bank. Checks should be addressed to the Community Foundation of Mendocino County (CFMC), and mailed to Advocate-News, P.O. Box 1188, Fort Bragg, 95437, or dropped by the newspaper office, located at 450 N. Franklin St. If you have any questions about the fund drive, call the Advocate-News at 964-5642. The fund-raiser runs through Dec. 31.
Donors” names are printed each week, unless they ask to remain anonymous. As of Wednesday, the drive has reached $4,805 thanks to new contributions from Susan Nutter, Louise Boedeker, Richard and Janet LaPierre, M. Jane Vartanian, Marc Yasskin and Mendocino Coast Gem and Mineral Society.
