Dealing with hunger in America is never easy, and very little is known about it in the everyday world, where it is rarely discussed.
Sarah Harrington, the Executive Director of the Cambridge Food Pantry in Cambridge, New York, teaches me something new about this wrenching poverty—the professionals call it “Food Insecurity”—which is soaring and leaving 44 million Americans without access to food.
This isn’t just about sending produce and other food to food pantries. This kind of awful poverty affects every part of people’s lives, including many who work hard at several jobs and can’t keep up with food prices. Thus, many aspects of their lives are upended.
One is kitchen tools; Sarah is asking for continued support for successfully launching her Kitchen Supply Shelf, a game-changer for the people on her membership list. I hope we can keep it going:
Sarah is trying to address this poverty in several varied and innovative ways. Recently, she noticed that the people coming to the food pantry—often recently moved or confined to hotel rooms or small apartments—did not have any of the essential tools we all take for granted when opening cans, cooking food in pans, scrambling eggs, or handling soup, to name a few. This raises issues of safety and dignity.
She started her new kitchen supply shelf idea by including free heavy-duty can openers on the food shelves. She vanished instantly; the feedback was enormous. Earlier this week, she sought help from the Army Of Goods in supplying other utensils (see above) free, as is all food on the pantry shelves.
The Army of Good once shined by filling the shelves with these other utensils. They were gone almost instantly.
“We are already out of cooking utensils,” Sarah told me yesterday. “My kitchen supply shelf is a big success. There is tremendous interest.”
This is music to my ears and another start for the Army of Good. Thank you. The good news is that the Sarah’s Kitchen Shelf is a success. That brings us to the bad news: we need more utensils. Thanks once more; link above:
In addition, ever looking ahead, Sarah says that today is Lady’s Day; pantry liners and pads for the women’s shelf are another innovation by the pantry that has left surprised and grateful people very happy.
Today’s Bargain Priced Items For Women are urgently needed and much appreciated.
Daily Pantliner, Long Length, Unscented, 40 Count, 1 Pack, $6.12.
On the shelf (empty now.) Sarah’s Kitchen Supply Self is a big hit.
You can access the Cambridge Pantry Amazon Food Wish List by clicking on any link or the green box at the bottom of every blog post. The list is updated regularly, and everything on it is urgently needed. Thank you for browsing and making your donations. We appreciate your help.
From the Amazon checkout page, you can send Sara and the Cambridge Pantry Volunteers messages of hope and appreciation for their work.
