August 2024 St. Joseph Food Pantry Report

It is 11:15 on a Thursday morning in August of 2024. We’ve arrived at St. Joseph’s Food Pantry in Burgaw. Jeremy and Kevin are assisting visitors with finding a spot in the already crowded parking lot. Starting with the earliest arrivals, the men will soon distribute a numbered ticket for each car that will be used for registration at 11:45. The parking lot is packed, and cars are still arriving. Jeremy directs them to the grassy lot adjacent to the Pantry. Space in the parking lot and Pantry Hall is limited. Temperatures are already soaring to the expected high nineties of today’s weather prediction.

 Inside the Parish Hall, Barbara & Kathy are sorting gently used clothing and household items at the sharing table, a favorite attraction for our guests. Exie and Mona are absorbed in arranging a wide assortment of breads and pastries on their respective tables. Marianne is almost obscured by the large boxes of fruits and vegetables delivered to her table by Justin and Glen. The registration team is setting up tables and charging their computers.

Two teams are busy in the back near the storage sheds and freezers. The first group is packing a healthy box of food for each household that will visit St. Joseph’s today. The boxes are loaded into wagons by the second team, then moved to the site where they will be loaded into the cars before exiting.

Christian sets up a table with iced water and cups in the parking lot. At 11:45 he opens the Pantry Door, inviting the first 20 ticket holders to enter the hall.  The limited number preserves the privacy of guest in the registration process.  Also, the Parish Hall which will not accommodate a large crowd. Later in the afternoon, the visitors will thin out limiting wait time. Even with this knowledge, it is difficult to convince more guests to come later in the day. The registration team will soon begin interviewing guests. Volunteers take time to listen, laugh or offer compassion as neighbors share their stories.

The stories shared by guests offer new insights on the many issues connected to poverty.  Many households depend on the low wages of contracted workers in essential businesses such as farms, food processing plants, construction sites, food services, health care, housecleaning homes, businesses, and even pig styes. There are no safety nets for illness, injury, inclement weather or family tragedy. Other stories involve seniors surviving on small social security incomes. 

Minerva has three children. Her husband is a farm laborer earning $1,400 a month when the weather cooperates. Minerva has worked the early shift at McDonald’s for 8 years, leaving home in the predawn hours and returning midafternoon. This year Minerva became very ill and has not been able to work for months nor afford the copay of her medications. Minerva was grateful for the donated school supplies that she received at St. Joseph’s Food Pantry.

Enrique is a single dad whose wife left him 5 years ago with a baby boy several months old. He now lives with four male cousins, 3 of them work construction, and the fourth, who is physically handicapped, does farm work when he can. Their combined monthly income is approximately $1,600.00. This month Enrique was elated to receive one of the 60 bags of cleaning supplies donated by the Caring Tree Ministry of St. Mark’s Church. 

Mrs. Brown is a seventy-three-year-old retired social worker with two family members living in her home. She struggles to cover monthly expenses with her SSI check of $1,800. Mrs. Brown always greets us with a smile. Volunteers are happy when they can give Mrs. Brown a sixpack of Glucerna, an unaffordable doctor recommended nutritional supplement.

Thursdays at St. Joseph’s Food Pantry encapsule what it means to be Christian.

 The 50 volunteers who serve each month inspire each other and are enriched by the people they serve.

Together Their Friendships, Compassion, and Warm Smiles Energize the Mission at St. Joseph’s Church!

St. Joseph’s Food Pantry

1303 US 117, Burgaw, NC 28425

Patricia Kopchick, Director

518-275-9887

stjoesfoodpantry@yahoo.com