If I could, I would send Barbara an e mail telling her about our
annual fundraiser, re-tooled from April’s abandoned
“Soupstock” into August’s ice cream and auction event,
“Scoopstock”. Thanks to the imagination and good will of our
fundraising co-chairs, Theresa Boettner and Nancy Lappert, and
the cooperation of an army of artisans and volunteers, we
managed to salvage the event by hosting it outdoors and with
pandemic-savvy protocols.
I would tell Barb that, yes, we are in good shape to sustain the
food cupboard for some time into the future. And yes, the
event was so much more than that. I think she would have
noticed it all: the artistic energy embedded in the hand- made
ice cream bowls and auction items; the imagination, resilience,
and creativity of the organizers, cooks, musicians and builders;
the strong backs of the setters-up, mask-enforcers, guides, and
volunteers; the anxious wee-hours worrying; the generosity of
our guests.
As important as the fun and the funds we raised are, we are
ever conscious of Barb’s dedication to the purpose of our food
pantry. Our patrons have been stripped of a little more dignity,
with little choice of what might appear in the pre-packaged
food parcels they receive, asked to mask up despite respiratory
ill health, marginal access to health care and decent housing,
they arrive with their neighbors, wait in their cars, deliver food
to friends who can’t make it, tell corny jokes. They thank us
and hope we stay well. Amazing grace.