Two years ago, community members in the Lodi area started a food pantry to help their friends and neighbors who struggle with food security. This year, those services expanded to include Thanksgiving Day boxes of non-perishable items, plus a plethora of fresh produce donated from local farms, and, of course, a turkey. Volunteers spent several hours unloading and organizing the donated items before the families that had reserved their boxes came in to pick them up. It was an effort that could not have been done by one person, said one of the main organizers of the food pantry, Karel Titus.
Tables were set up in the main room of the Lodi Presbyterian Church on Saturday afternoon, loaded with boxes of food to be distributed among the Thanksgiving packages that had been pre-ordered by local community members. The fridge in the church kitchen was full to bursting with turkeys, several volunteers raced around the room trying to organize all the donated goods, sorting the overripe produce from the fresh, while more volunteers were sent out to pick up and deliver the fresh produce from nearby farms, businesses and the Food Distribution Network. Loaves of bread from Wegmans filled a table near the door, while a box of hummus and cold salads from Greenstar were placed outside because there was no room in the fridge.
On a regular basis, Titus said the food pantry has around five volunteers. Saturday’s special event had around five volunteers sorting the food, with several others delivering.
“Today, of course, we had these extra boxes to put together, you see,” Titus said. “They’re here. They’re here to help. They’re from Interlaken, Ovid – I’m not sure where they’re all from, but I think that people really enjoy being able to give.”
Titus said that she believes her biggest accomplishment with the food pantry is to see community members who used to receive food then turn around and help the pantry by volunteering. The volunteers do take what they need, if they need it, but Titus said that by being able to give back she has seen these volunteers blossom.
“They’ve got valuable things to give,” Titus said. “They cook, they’re organizers.”
It’s the volunteers, Titus said, who are solving problems and making most of the decisions. This organization is clearly on display Saturday as the boxes come in and the volunteers take action, figuring out where to put it all, who will sort it, and how it will be distributed. The produce especially takes some organizing, but having healthy options is an important part of what the pantry provides.
“We want people to eat healthy, so we try to find out what the produce is and then folks will offer to tell people what it is and how to cook it,” Titus said. “You know Swiss Chard, as easy as it is to cook people don’t know about that.”
Sometimes the food pantry offers simple printed cooking instructions and recipes to go with the food it provides. Sometimes a volunteer will offer small samples of the food already prepared.
An operation like the food pantry cannot be sustained or run by one person; it depends on a network. Like many food pantries, the Lodi Food Pantry looks for help from their local economy. For two years now part of that local support has come from Silver Thread Winery, a Lodi business.
Back in September the winery held its annual Good Earth Day event and fundraiser, named after a wine that has been produced by the business for years. All the tasting and vineyard tour fees for the day were donated to the food pantry, totaling $625 dollars.
“We’re a small, family-owned and operated winery and local food is really important to us so when we heard about this group that had started in Lodi, to really promote local food for everyone in the community, it was something we really wanted to support,” said Shannon Brock, one of the owners of Silver Thread.
The money was used to help the food pantry provide fresh protein, and natural cleaning supplies, to community members who need them. Brock said the winery plans to continue the fundraiser in the coming years.
“It was something that we personally feel strongly about, and we like what the food pantry is doing to help people not only with their immediate need for food but encouraging them to eat local,” Brock said.
“I’ve been trying to get the community to work together, so this is one outcome of that,” Titus said of the number of local organizations that have pitched in to help the food pantry. “I just think community is the big goal and we’ve certainly come really close to that.”
