We Visit The Kitchen Cupboard in Bennington

On Sunday, Nov. 6, five of use from the Friendship Center visited the Kitchen Cupboard food pantry in Bennington, Vt., during their open house. They were most generous in answering all of our questions and even giving us some coffee and rice pilaf to distribute at the Friendship Center.

The Kitchen Cupboard is run by Greater Bennington Interfaith Services Inc. The pantry opened in April and currently has more than 800 member households. It is located on the corner of Gage and Bradford Streets, near the Bennington Rec. Center.

Above: Al Nelson, Cynthia and Rich Davis and Tony Pisano listen to volunteer Donna Maroney tell us about The Kitchen Cupboard.

I'm hoping to put on the agenda for our Friday Nov. 18 Interfaith Action Initiative meeting a discussion of what we saw and heard on our visit. Our main topic on the 18th will be the Northern Berkshire Systems of Care Committee and the good work it is doing.

The outside of the facility, which has a first floor and a basement, allowing them to store a great deal of food. The building is a former tanning salon, and an out of town landlord rents it to them for a modest monthly amount.

Here, Donna shows the great storage area they have in a "room" which was once the sauna at the tanning salon. They had huge bags of dog food in there that they got from the Vermont Food Bank, which they break up into smaller amounts and give to their visitors. Our food bank doesn't offer this.

While we were there, people came in from the Bennington CROP Walk to tour the food pantry. We hope to revive the CROP Walk in Northern Berkshire next year.

Sue Andrews, executive director of Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc., came in with the CROP Walkers and gave us plenty of tips. Sue writes grants for a living and has been instrumental in the success of the Food and Fuel Fund and the Bennington Free Clinic. She and Al Nelson remembered each other from the days when she was with the VNA in Northern Berkshire and he was with WMNB.

Before we left, Donna gave us a box of coffee and got Sue's permission to give us a box of rice pilaf, too! What great people! It was well worth the trip up the road with friends on a beautiful Sunday afternoon

God Bless You All,

Mark

Connecting with many friends

Friends,

The Friendship Center food pantry served 36 families on Wednesday, March 9. This is up from 14 last week and 29 the week before. We served 19 families in the first 45 minutes we were open — our team of volunteers was really hopping!

On Wednesday we signed up 20 new members, and the Friendship Center now has a total of 62 families signed up as members.

But it's not about numbers, it's about helping people, making connections with our friends in the community and among each other. It’s about serving God in and through our neighbors.

So far, we seem to be on the right track. We have some fantastic volunteers, and we would welcome more, in a number of capacities. We need your help. Contact volunteer coordinator Denise Krutiak at denisekrutiak@yahoo.com or me at northernberkshireinterfaith@gmail.com. We are looking for volunteers who can help during our daytime hours and those who could help in the evening when we add evening hours down the road.

Friends from the community who are not in need of food are always welcome to come in and see what we are doing. I would love to see more of those I know and love stop in and visit.

I want to thank the members of the North Adams Youth Commission for letting Al Nelson and me speak to them last Thursday about the food pantry and ways to get youth involved. I was encouraged by the meeting that this will happen, and happen in varied ways.

I also want to thank Mike Garland and WNAW for having Maureen Gaudreau, Mark Lincourt and me on the Opinion program on Monday morning to talk about the Friendship Center food pantry and the food drive that Maureen and North Adams Commons has organized in several locations in North Adams through Friday. From what people who heard it tell me, we did OK.

God Bless,

Mark

(Photo above: Getting ready before we opened the doors at 11 a.m. are (l-r) Denise Krutiak, Gail Obrest, Shirley Davis and Sue Walker.)