sucky food pantry customer

[KellyHabersham]

*Some aspects of this may or may not be more appropriate for Fratching, so I'm just focusing on where I felt this guy was getting/acting sucky.*

"George" is one of the church's semi-regular food pantry users, and normally he's pleasant enough to deal with......the last time he'd come into the office was shortly after we'd implemented new policies regarding the food pantry, and he was cool with it when I explained the changes. He's also usually understanding when/if I have to tell him that we don't have much in the way of food to give out at whatever time he might stop by.

However, today "George" got a bit sucky because he'd come into the church office expecting to receive several week's worth of food, and did NOT seem happy when I told him that we really didn't have much of anything......got the feeling he wanted to argue/debate on when we'd be getting "restocked". I did have a few things to give him, but he seemed annoyed that it wasn't more. And I really didn't know how to explain nicely that what we have in the food pantry depends solely on donations from congregation members, and that I have no control over what and/or when people bring stuff in. (I HAVE explained this to "George" before)

And where this gets sucky for me is that when people do choose to give me a hard time about assistance, it's always when I'm the only one in the office, so there's no backup if that person wants to get really sucky.

[PepperElf]

and i've seen stories here on some of the crap some people think are acceptable donations too. like expired food.

hope george at least had enough to eat
even if it's not what he wants to eat.

[Teefies2]

and i've seen stories here on some of the crap some people think are acceptable donations too. like expired food.

hope george at least had enough to eat
even if it's not what he wants to eat.

Reminds me of when my Mom & I both worked at churches ... but she had the better story! This guy came in looking for food - Mom offered him what they had, some cans of something or other. He says no, I need food NOW!!!!!! She says okay, I think we can put together a sandwich from what's in the fridge (employees' left overs, but she didn't tell him that). He gets IRATE ... I NEED food NOW and I NEED hot food!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't even give me a sandwich I NEED HOT FOOD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse me? You're here for assistance "NOW!!!!!!" and you turn down what's offered because it's not hot????????

Oh and then there was the guy who needed money for "his baby". Mom offered him formula and diapers, well of course that wasn't good enough! He needed CASH for the "baby". How many guesses until you figure out that he wasn't talking about an infant?

[jedimaster91]

I feel your pain. Both Papa Jedi and now Mr Jedi have dealt with those in our congregation seeking assistance, so I've had to deal with them on occasion as well. Recently there was a man who literally had no food in the house and it would be awhile before the next church-sponsored food delivery. He also hadn't had a needs assessment yet. So Mr Jedi and I stopped in WalMart and picked up some inexpensive food that would last him a few days. Stuff like bread, peanut butter/jelly, and spaghetti.

Mr Jedi dropped it off and came back looking pissed. I asked him what was wrong and he told me the guy said the food we brought him wasn't stuff he liked to eat.

[KellyHabersham]

and i've seen stories here on some of the crap some people think are acceptable donations too. like expired food.

hope george at least had enough to eat
even if it's not what he wants to eat.

Well, I definitely didn't have several week's worth of food on hand to give him........'tis gotten to the point where I'll have to put a "food pantry is nearly empty" announcement in our weekly bulletin and monthly newsletter. But I gave "George" what I did have, and fortunately he's not one to be fussy about the food he gets.......he just seemed annoyed because I didn't have the amount of assistance he wanted/expected.

[Register9]

WTF is it with people and the entitlement card? If you need to get food from a church be grateful for what you get!

[MoonCat]

I know it has to be rough getting your food from a food pantry--you're kind of stuck with whatever they have on hand, they can run out, etc.--but the idea that you can't just go in and order specific foods shouldn't be that hard to grasp.

My sister worked at a local mission here for a few years. One time they had a farmer donate several hundred dozen eggs. Literally FOR YEARS afterward, people would call the mission and say "I heard you were giving away free eggs." They're probably STILL getting those calls!

[Mikkel]

"I heard you were giving away free eggs."

"Yes, we were."

[tollbaby]

During the very short period of time that I was a food pantry user (when I had my son, we were spending all our money on formula for the baby, since I couldn't produce milk), I discovered that about 90% of the stuff the food pantry gives you isn't stuff I would normally eat of my own volition. But I sucked it up and ate it anyway (even KD, which is gross) because it was all we had. I certainly wouldn't ever complain to the poor volunteers that I didn't like the food selection...

However, it has made me a bit more considerate when I'm choosing which foods to donate. Our office recently had a food drive put on by Purolator. We had the box in our lobby for two weeks. We filled it and then some (about 100 lbs of food). The kicker, and what shocked the hell out of the Purolator guy when he came to pick up the box? Our office has only four employees LOL The gang of 125 across the hall didn't fill a quarter of their box LOL (just proves we like to shop).

[ShootMePlease]

What I don't understand is why George doesn't have some sort of assistance. If he was looking for several weeks worth of food, this leads me to believe he has no source of help, such as welfare or food stamps. If someone is that dire of a need, there should be some sort of governmental help for them.

[MoonCat]

What I don't understand is why George doesn't have some sort of assistance. If he was looking for several weeks worth of food, this leads me to believe he has no source of help, such as welfare or food stamps. If someone is that dire of a need, there should be some sort of governmental help for them.

Well, there often is, depending on the state, the county or the city (or all three), but sometimes it doesn't last until the end of the month.

Our area usually gets high marks for that postal food drive that happens in May...we donate lots of stuff...but people do tend to forget about that when there's no special drive going on.

[chainedbarista]

baby=addiction of choice, methinks?

wow, ungrateful people; while it may not be what you want, it is edible, so rather than bitch, i'd be happy i just have something to eat.

[Seshat]

I can understand someone with diabetes, gluten intolerance, or other dietary restrictions being fussy about food - but I know that if I had to ask for help, I'd explain my insulin resistance issue, and have my doctor write a note confirming it, and ask that IF they had any appropriate foods, I be considered A priority to recieve them.

But heck, if they didn't have wheat or wholegrain bread, we'd take the white and be thankful for it.

[AccountingSlave]

when I lived with the ex-in-laws, they would have to go to the food pantry once in a while (10 people in the household.....) They brought home some pretty interesting foods, but nothing bad....some of it left me wondering where they got it ( I once made an entire meal out of canned beef, of all things.....)

[PepperElf]

hell i've been close to broke and bought the groceries to match my budget.

rice, tuna, sometimes pb&j but even those were kinda expensive for a while. ... powdered milk, potatoes, cans of veggies (the peas, green beens & corn are 39 cents a can if you get the right ones), pasta. beer was off the shopping list pretty much until just recently (getting the job) and even now i don't buy it much*


my boyfriend's actually a little annoyed i think that i'm still eating pb&j for lunch. part of it is that i don't wanna spend a lot on groceries
but also because... um i kinda like pb&j. tho now that i have a job i'm getting fancy jelly like quince and ginger jellies.

* part of that is also because i have tastes in beer that my budget doesn't agree with yet. I rather like sam adams & middle ages. i won't drink crap beer. but if i can't afford it i go without.