November 9, 2023 -- St. Joseph Food Pantry Report

Thursday, November 9, 2023: Households Served – 144; Total People – 556

Moving forward towards Veteran’s Day on November 11, produce favorites and baked goods -- including apples, acorn squash, bananas, carrots, kale, Swiss chard and turnips -- were offered to 122 households. Our volunteer, Joanna, offered our clients samples of a tasty lentil salad, along with recipes to make it, in both English and Spanish. Lentils contain as much protein as meat and are a major source of fiber. The benefits of lentils were explained in an attachment to the recipe.

Our sharing table, which is staffed by Exie and Barbara, had some beautiful clothes and shoes to provide to our clients. Thanks to generous donations, we can provide new and lightly used clothing for our clients and their children. Baked goods can sometimes be in short supply, this week Maureen made our clients feel special with the treats we had. We also had unusual treats of “Pocky” cookies, a treat that is popular in Japan. We also had cake mixes with icing and dessert cups for our clients to make cupcakes for their families.

Outside Dave was back helping to direct cars to our food distribution team. Our guests often comment to Art, Jim, Jerry, John, and the other men who deliver the food boxes how much they like his personable manner. These men who deliver the goods outside, in all types of weather, have a special mission to help our clients despite occasional testy clients and more often experiencing trunk-lid bruises (from lids falling on them when loading trunks for our clients). They are a good reflection of St. Joseph – patient and caring.

Dave asked us to come outside to input a woman client with autoimmune disease. She humbly said she would take anything we had for produce, so Bonnie came out with a selection of what we had. The woman was grateful that we were able to provide a selection for her and she never had to leave her vehicle.

World Kindness Week (November 13-19) is the perfect time to share an act of kindness and make someone’s day. This commemoration was begun in 1997, when humanitarian groups decided to promote random acts of Kindness. Our volunteering is a valuable way to show others we care. We all will be very busy this coming Thursday, our patience and kindness are great ways to show our clients how much we care about them.