A Long Thought about What it Means to be Part of a Community

Dear Friends,

Happy November.  Forgive me in advance, as this may be a longer missive… So much going on.  Though I try to focus on one thing, there is so much happening, and it all seems to overlap.  I will try to be as concise as I can, but know that I appreciate your patience and concentration.  If you just want the facts and action steps, read the bullets at the beginning and end.

Despite the November greeting, I am writing this on Halloween Day.  I just returned from a “Food Insecurity Summit,” organized by Waldo CAP.  Given the threat by the federal government that they will not be paying out SNAP benefits until the government shutdown ends, concerns that children and their families in Waldo County will go hungry have skyrocketed.  About 60 people – from food pantries, from community service organizations like ours, from the State government, and from private households – met this afternoon to try to understand the problems, share possible resources, and brainstorm solutions. 

Some fact that struck me:

-          SNAP is intended to supplement families’ food budget;  in Maine, many families use it as their primary source of food funding. 

-          According to the August numbers, 12.5% of households in Maine depend on SNAP.  In Waldo County, 15% do. 

-          Some Mainers have to decide between food, heating fuel, and electricity as the costs of each have gone up significantly.   And it affects people with jobs, not just those on unemployment or disability. 

-          The Community Market run by the Belfast Soup Kitchen has seen a 35% increase in families in the past week as people prepare for the loss of SNAP.

-          The GBAM food pantry used to get two calls a week.  They are getting two or three a day now.

-          WCAP gave out 866 Thanksgiving food boxes last year.  So far, they have more than 950 requests. 

-          Transportation creates significant obstacles in Waldo County.  Some people can’t access available food sources because they can’t get there.  (According to a brief put together for the John T. Gorman Foundation, people without cars in Waldo County need 511,000 rides each year.  Waldo CAP, which runs the local bus service, can provide about half of that.)

At this point, you may be asking why I was there.  There are two reasons:  (1) Though we don’t have a formal food program, we give out thousands of healthy snacks and lunches every year through our childcare, camp, and AOA luncheon programs.  So far this year, that number exceeds 11,000.  And through your generosity to our food drives, we give hundreds of pounds of food to local pantries each month.  (2) Perhaps more important is our mission:  We are here to promote the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of Waldo County children and families.  Food - good nutrition - is a critical part of health.  If we at the WCY can do anything to help, I want to do it. 

You may have heard me tell what brought me to the YMCA Movement.  During COVID, I volunteered at the Y in Waterville.  For three months, I was in charge of giving out 75 meals.  Every weekday, I picked up the meals, drove to a parking lot in Fairfield, and gave out meals to families. 

One evening upon my return, I told the food service manager how grateful those families were.  He said, “Well, we are a community organization.  We wanted to do something for the community.”  A string in my heart sounded and I thought, “That’s the kind of place I want to work.”  And here I am. 

The genesis of the WCY grew out of a need to give children access to afterschool activities. Swimming was first.  Then gymnastics.  Then T-ball, soccer, field hockey, etc.…  And it grew to include adults.  And then, the community came together to build this tremendous facility. 

But swimming, soccer, T-ball…  they were a mechanism to give children and families an outlet they hadn’t had before.  They were a delivery system to build confidence, character, and a sense of belonging to something larger.  I have heard stories about how coaches reached out to children who needed attention, asked them to join a team, and cleared the obstacles to make it possible. 

That attention, being seen as an individual with intrinsic worth, opened a “window to a different world”, according to one early board member. 

We continue that today.  I wish I could share every story of a childcare staff member comforting a child who is going through trauma, every compliment I hear about our fitness staff who help a member overcome a physical obstacle, every time someone tells me that coming to the WCY is the highlight of their day.  What we do here – and by “we”, I include you, because it happens in hallway conversations and kind words in the pool and track – is bring light into people’s lives, which too often feels dim or even dark. 

I am the beneficiary of it.  The support I felt when Sarah was going through cancer was incredible, yes.  But it didn’t end there.  I learned to love swimming in our Masters program because Susan, the coach, beamed her love of the sport out to me.  I go to the Pilates class (when I can) not just because my back feels better, but because Jane, the instructor, shares her love of it with every brutal repetition.  When I’m having a bad day, people care about me, ask me how I am, give me a hug. 

I feel so blessed to be part of this community and I want to share that same love. 

One of the challenges is the stigma attached to asking for help.  We see it at the WCY.  Even though we make applying for scholarships as easy as we can, I have heard that many people won’t ask.  They don’t want us—or anyone—to know.

That’s a tough one, because I know how hard it is to ask for help.  It seems to be calling attention to my failures, which is embarrassing.  It seems to require me to change and even I, someone that prides himself on his adaptability, shy away from change.

Back to food…  What can we do to help?  I have a couple of immediate ideas:

-          Help normalize asking for help.  One of the gifts of Sarah’s cancer (I know…  not really a gift I wanted) was that she let me care for her.  It wasn’t always easy.  Sometimes I was difficult about it.  But I am so grateful she did.  How do you do this?  Make yourself available.  Offer help until someone tells you to stop.  Don’t take “no” personally and don’t give up. 

-          If you donate food to our food drives or a food bank, donate protein rich stews or soups that can be heated in a microwave.  Many families who need food are in transitional housing with no access to a real kitchen.

-          Look for programs like the proxy buyer program at BSK’s Community Market where you can shop for someone else if they ask you to.  Or the WCY’s “Membership for All” program that provides assistance to those who need it. 

-          Share resources like Waldo County Bounty’s page listing places to get meal.  (Or print this one out from Waldo CAP.)

-          Sign up for and bring cans (protein rich soups and stews!)  to our Thanksgiving “Burn it to Earn it” workout. 

-          And this is a hard one to write given that we are a non-profit about to kick off our Annual Campaign --  Consider making a donation to a local food pantry or soup kitchen. 

We have a great community of caring people and organizations.  That was clear from the gathering today.  The issues we face in November are heightened because of the government shutdown, but they will still be here when the Federal government reopens.  Keep thinking about Hubert Humphrey’s quote: “The true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.”  I will add that we have all been those members and will all be again.  That’s worth remembering.

Thank you for being part of this community.