Dusty Hall cautiously backed his pick-up truck close to FISH Food Pantry’s side door Monday morning.
Sporting a beard and a cammo baseball cap, Hall looked more like a quiet hunter stalking deer than a dude dropping off canned goods at a food pantry.
When asked if he would talk to me after unloading a truck bed filled with boxes of canned goods, Hall’s quiet “Sure” was barely audible over the gusting wind.
It took a good 15 minutes for Hall and FISH volunteer Marcey Younge to transfer the boxes of canned goods into the pantry’s stock room.
Though it buys a good portion of its food from the River Bend Food Bank, FISH accepts donations of canned and some perishable food — like bread and eggs, as well fresh fruits and vegetables — from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Hall’s offerings will not be wasted.
FISH Food Pantry helped 6,955 visitors through July of this year. Those people, a number of them repeat clients, represented 2,882 households.
I got those numbers from Diane Copeland, who is entering her third year as the food pantry’s president.
“We just get so much support from the community, it’s hard to describe it all. But it is so gratifying,” Copeland said. “We get to see so many generous, giving people and organizations.”
Copeland pointed out FISH is in its 47th year. She rattled off all the support that makes it happen — from the Galesburg Community Foundation and grants from Emergency Food and Shelter, to food drives and fundraisers held by the likes of WGIL Galesburg Radio 14 and the annual Letter Carriers Food Drive.
Copland said a special thanks, too, to everyday people like Hall.
The first question I asked the quiet donor was what organization he represented. Hall paused, unsure of what to say.
“It’s just me,” he said when he found words.
It was my turn to be at a loss. Hall explained.
“I just set up collection boxes at Roadhouse Sports Bar in Knoxville, the Hi-Lo Grocery, Cactus Country and Budde’s Pizza & Spirits,” he said. “I did it last year, too. But this year I had more places and I think it went pretty well.”
Hall said he “just wanted to do something for other people.”
“There have been times when I’ve needed a helping hand and my friends have always helped me, someone always stepped up,” Hall said. “This is a chance for me to do something for others.”
In his quiet voice, just audible above Monday morning’s wind, Hall requested what he called “a favor”
“I’m having a toy drive for Christmas this year,” he said. “I’m calling it the ‘Deck the Halls Toy Drive.’ Could you include it in your story?”
Honestly, I’ve written these stories for many, many years. Stories of people helping others, with no plans to get their names in the paper. Telling each one always puts a little heat behind my eyes and a lump in my throat.
Everyday people really are amazing.
Dusty Hall’s Deck the Halls Toy Drive will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, at Budde's Pizza on Main Street in Galesburg. He asks for new or gently used toys.
Tom Loewy: (309) 343-7181, ext. 256; tloewy@register-mail.com; @tomloewy
