Can we help?
(picture above Where Tide should be)
Day by day, Sarah, a profoundly empathetic person, explains hunger’s complexity, mystery, and painful choices. She has the gift of the soul; she feels what the hungry people in her food pantry feel, and she is teaching me about that poignant and painful world. One of the mysteries of the food pantry is Tide and Disinfectants, especially Tide. Today, she set up four benches so the patrons coming to the pantry don’t have to stand, often on canes or holding their babies, waiting to come in.
No matter what she does, she cannot keep Tide (the empty shelf above) in the pantry or on a shelf for more than one day. Food seekers appear looking for food and drop everything to grab Tide when they see it. The same problem occurs with disinfectants; only three are left on the cleaning shelf and will be gone by Wednesday. She can’t keep them in stock, either.
Hunger, especially hunger involving children, is all about choices. No one in the process has enough money to put what they want on the shelves, not the pantry workers, not the mothers coming for help, not the fathers. They say little, says Sarah, but they grab the Tide and the disinfectants first, even if it means putting some food back on the shelf. The tide is always gone; they need help to afford clean clothes and the foods they’d like. It’s a complex and painful choice, and Sarah sees it daily. She also feels it daily since she can rarely obtain or afford the foods she wants to buy and knows are badly missed.
It is no fun being hungry in America. We can ease these discomforts and frustrations and fatten the pantry stock of Tide and disinfectants. Hungry people can not afford to buy them instead of food or vice versa. Here are two requests that could help significantly. Both are inexpensive and listed on the Cambridge Pantry Food Wish List.
I’m on a crusade to fill those shelves with enough Tide to last a week or so, at least. Windex as well; winter is coming, and the families will need it; everyone will be inside, and school will be open. That also means more clothes, books, fees, and health checks.
Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent, Heavy Duty, Original Scent, 21 Loads, 34 Fl.Oz, $5.50.
The Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent is a much-needed pantry item with its heavy-duty cleaning power and original scent. A single bottle, priced at $5.50, can provide 21 loads of clean laundry for those in need.
You can browse the regularly updated Cambridge Food Pantry Amazon Wish List. Everything on it is needed.
