Bryan CresseyCo-Founder and Partner, Cressey & Company

Food Pantry Gives More Than Food to Poor and Homeless

7 May 2022 · 2 min

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1:59

In this address, the speaker outlines the Above and Beyond Food Pantry’s mission to combat food insecurity while preserving individual dignity. The narrative emphasizes the moral imperative to aid those who are hungry, homeless, or impoverished, recognizing that their circumstances are often beyond personal choice. Beyond distributing food, the pantry provides Medicaid enrollment assistance, COVID‑19 and flu vaccinations, winter clothing, and books to support physical health and mental enrichment. The speaker highlights rapid growth—fourfold expansion since opening on January 4, 2021—and quantifies impact: in the first nine months, over 16,000 individuals (more than 5,000 households) received assistance, and over 90,000 lb of food were distributed. The talk concludes with gratitude toward community members and volunteers for their support and partnership.

Chapters

Food is essential, yet it is unevenly distributed, unevenly available. We witness this severe injustice daily when we see healthy food being discarded by many while others need nourishment and have no or limited access to it. We want to remedy this injustice. We are here to help individuals feed their lives, feed their lives so they can work, they can learn, they can build their health, their family's health, and their community's health. It is vital that we do this while maintaining and growing each individual's dignity. We understand that adversity, limited opportunities, bad decisions, and perhaps even fate placed these individuals in their current circumstances. These men, women, and children did not choose to be impoverished. They did not choose to be homeless. They did not choose to be hungry. Once we recognize that, we have a moral duty to intervene. It is with this understanding that we approach each individual at the Above and Beyond Food Pantry. In addition to providing food, we are enrolling the members of the community into Medicaid programs to give them access to better healthcare and counseling. We are providing COVID vaccinations, flu vaccinations, winter clothing to keep them warm, and books to nourish their minds. The pantry has grown fourfold since its opening on January 4th, 2021, demonstrating the great need within the community and the great altruism of the members of Above and Beyond. In the first 9 months, the pantry has fed over 16,000 people, over 5,000 households, with over 90,000 pounds of food. We thank each member of the community of the Above and Beyond Food Pantry for welcoming us and allowing us the privilege of serving them.