By Deb Johnson
As many of you know, the UUCA started the Caring Cupboard several years ago. The Caring Cupboard was in the McKeeman kitchen and was stocked by donations of food brought in by the congregation when we met for services each week. Over the years many people have benefited from the food that was provided there. A year or 2 ago, a member of the congregation discovered that Whole Foods 365 donated expiring perishable
food to local charities and got us on the list to receive the food on Sunday mornings. A team of young adults launched this effort, organized and
maintained by Abby L’Bert, to rotate pickups and bring the food to church for distribution. I got involved with taking leftovers to local shelters, along
with a few other people.
Since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, things obviously had to change. By mid-March we started setting up tables outside the building under the covered walkway where we would then put the donated food from Whole Foods. We also loaded food from the Caring Cupboard onto carts and rolled them outside. These carts are filled with non-perishable items such as pasta, pasta sauce, cereal, canned green beans, corn and mixed vegetables, as well as canned beans (kidney, black and pinto), and an assortment of soups. We try to keep toilet paper in stock and put some out each week.
As unemployment skyrocketed, we went from having a couple of families using the Caring Cupboard, to an average of 15 families weekly, including food deliveries to people without transportation by the Immigration Committee. We applied for and received a grant from the Charlie and
Marty Wilson fund, and we will be able to apply for another grant in 2021. This money has allowed us to keep the Caring Cupboard well stocked.
Along the way, church members made masks and brought them to us, for both the volunteers and the guests. Since the lockdown was lifted people have begun stopping by to give us donations of food, toilet paper and personal care items. That is also appreciated and an ongoing need.
Now that the weather is getting colder, we will be moving into Hannah hall when the weather is poor. We need to take people’s temperatures and gather contact information. We limit the number of “pods” inside at a time, and we separate the items on different tables, spread out for appropriate social distancing. We usually have a station for bread, dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables and the non-perishables and personal care items.
As the holidays have approached, we joined with the Social Action/Immigration committee to organize a drive to provide holiday boxes for families who depend on our food distributions. We have had a wonderful outpouring of contributions, both food and financial. We will be providing 21 Thanksgiving boxes to families who regularly get help here at the Church or from the volunteers who deliver food to people who do not have transportation. There should be enough, along with the financial contributions to provide boxes at the Christmas holiday as well.
Due to recent donations, our financial situation is good. However, to help us stretch that money, donations of the following items are still very much appreciated: Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Cold Cereal, Oatmeal, Dry Black Beans, Dry Pinto Beans, Rice, soup, canned corn, green beans and mixed vegetables, as well as canned kidney, black and pinto beans. Toothpaste and toothbrushes, laundry soap, dish soap, etc. are also appreciated. The best time to drop items off is Sunday morning between 9 and 10 AM during the food distribution.
A quick shout out to the people supporting this ministry. Sarah Culver-organizer, Cir L’Bert Jr, Matt Dudas and sons and Ron Scott do the
pickups. Heather and Carol Randolph are there most weeks along with Deb Lemire or Russell Kunz. Recently Mike Setzer has also been coming to
help. At the end of the distribution Tom Crain comes to take any perishables to Shanti, a non-profit which benefits new American immigrants.