Not-So-Weird Wednesday: Basement Beginnings for Food Pantries
Since I’m not one of those people who starts listening to Christmas music on November 1st, Thanksgiving is the official start of the holiday season in my world. And with it comes far fewer strange or outright weird occurrences in basements, and many more completely normal, or even heartwarming uses.
Throughout the country, churches and community organizations run food pantries out of their basements. In many cases, the pantries have such high demand and, thankfully, enough donations, that they’ve outgrown their humble beginnings.
The tiny town (population: ~4000) of Danielson, CT has two within a quarter mile of each other: The Friends of Assisi food pantry, which began in the rectory basement of St. James Church and has since moved into a small house, is in the middle of its 26th annual Thanskgiving food distribution. Down the street, the Access Agency, which provides community services including an emergency food bank for clients, is handing out Thanksgiving food baskets from its basement.
Closer to home, there are dozens of food pantries throughout Michigan that provide assistance. The First Presbyterian Church and Greater Lansing Food Bank spent November preparing for the holiday, and there are countless others throughout the state that survive and help their communities due to donations and volunteers.
As we enter the full swing of the holiday season, we’re thankful for community organizations like this that start a food bank in their basement and end up providing access to food for hundreds of people every week.
If you would like to donate to or volunteer at a local food bank, or you need emergency or ongoing help with food access, check the links below for local organizations.
