A man came to the door of the food pantry on Wednesday and presented the food pantry referral sheet he’d gotten from Shawn in the main office.
As the food pantry volunteers took the sheet, he said, “And…with my food…could you give me pop tops as much as possible?”
“Pop tops?” they confirmed. “Yes, we can do that.”
He responded, “Yeah. Where I’m cooking at right now…well…I know there’s not going to be a can opener.”
“Oh, if that’s what you need, we have can openers!” they said. “We’ll give you one.”
As the volunteers put the man’s food order together, I thought of Darlene, Patchwork’s food pantry volunteer extraordinaire who died in Fall 2021.
It is because of Darlene that our food pantry has can openers. Several years ago, Darlene was putting together a food order for someone when the person refused at least half of the food. When Darlene asked why, the person said that they couldn’t use any of the canned goods because they didn’t have a can opener.
Darlene thought about it. She hated to see a hungry person have to return food that they needed just because they couldn’t open it.
Darlene talked to her friends, and a few of them committed to supplying Patchwork’s food pantry with can openers. Ever since, we’ve had can openers, thanks to Darlene’s friends. Now, the can openers are given in her memory.
Small things like this are what make a difference. They’re part of listening to our guests. Being welcoming. Being a resource.