Those of us who work with our clients at the Food Pantry have the opportunity to speak with them, to welcome them, and to offer assistance.  Miriam Greenlee, our Program Director, meets with each client personally on every visit.  She has come to know many of them, and often they share their stories, both positive ones and ones of difficulty. Mrs. Greenlee not only provides helpful information, but just as importantly, she provides encouragement and respect. Recently she “went the extra mile” for a needy family.

Mrs. Greenlee was unloading supplies she had purchased for the Pantry on a day when the Pantry was closed.  While at the door, she was approached by a stranger, a mother who had five children and her sister with her.  Instead of telling the mother to return the next morning when the Pantry opened, she listened to the woman’s story and concluded she was in great need for food.  The family had been evicted, gathered their few belongings and managed to find another place to rent, but there was no money for food. All her husband’s salary was used for the rent.  And so, this family was welcomed into the Pantry where they received enough food for about one week, and each of the children received a box of donated Girl Scout cookies as a treat.

If the family needs food again, they may return the following month with a referral. But in the meantime, a family crisis of hunger was averted, and the Food Pantry carried out its mission: no one in Kent County should go to bed hungry.