Spirit in Action

Michelle Gribble - St Francis Food Pantry

Talk with Michelle Gribble, United Methodist, Executive Director of St. Francis Food Pantry, On-site Supervisor for The Community Table and board member of the Feed My People Food Bank

Duration:: 57m
Broadcast on:: 11 Sep 2005
Audio Format:: mp3

I have no hands but yours to tend my sheep No hand could chief but yours to drive the eyes of those who weep I have no eyes but yours with which to hold Once from me we've found the struggle We'll be with growing old I have no voice but yours with which to think To let my children know that I am lost And love is everything I have no way to feed the hungry spouse No clothes to give and knit the beggar and the gold So be my heart, my hands, my tongue For you are with me, darling Singers have I not to have one time The tangle knocked and twisted chains of strength Welcome to Spirit in Action, my name is Mark Helpsmeet Each week I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action and progressive efforts I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service Above all, I'll seek out light, love and helping hands Being shared between our many neighbors on this planet Hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred food in your own life I have no way to open people's eyes Except that you will show them how to trust the inner life Today on Spirit in Action, we'll be visiting with Michelle Gribble Michelle is a lifelong United Methodist Executive Director of the St. Francis Food Pantry Weekend on-site supervisor for the community table And she is a board member of the Feed My People Food Bank Michelle, I'd like to welcome you today to Spirit in Action Thank you for having me today I was very pleased to meet you, what was it, a week ago, two weeks ago at the community table How long have you been working with community table? I have just begun with community table, I've actually worked there roughly two months as an on-site coordinator And what does community table do, what is its mission? The mission of community table is to really serve those that have a need for food on a daily basis It was started in 1993 and was proposed to be available for the community for anyone that would have a need for hot meal When you say it's for people who have a need, does that mean that if I have enough money that I wouldn't be allowed in the door? Is there some way to filter out people of means from people who don't have means? Do you have to dress ratty to get in? There are no criteria, we ask no questions I think the goal and the primary purpose is to help those who would not have the monetary ability to maybe make ends meet other ways But it is open to anyone in the community My observation as I've been there with the Quaker meeting when we serve meals Is that there's a large range of people and of their abilities Some people to me look like they're suffering from poverty and other people don't look so obviously suffering from poverty Some people look like maybe they're mentally ill or have those kind of histories And other people just look normal and I like that mix Have you gotten familiar with a lot of the customers who come there, the clients? And can you speak about what they're like? It is a very wide range of people who do come to the facility there And I would say you've probably touched on the general senses of what I see too There are people who are dealing with mental health issues There are people who do appear normal but when you sit down and speak with them And hear their story, oftentimes they've just been laid off or they've had major medical issues that have brought them to a financial bind It is a myriad of people and individuals It's interesting to me that so many of them who maybe do actually come from a low income level Will be those people who are the most ready to be assistive They help you fold up the chairs, they help you scrape the plates, they're always there So I think the biggest part that I like with community table Is it really does complement the name of the facility being a community You almost become a little mini family, many of them will take an opportunity And introduce themselves to me as being one of the new staff people And asking about former staff people and just making themselves really kind of part of a family unit Cold night in December, in a shelter, on the door street line I saw on the windows, I said his bones no warmth no wine Plastic, magic wishing wand on the frozen ground See the sparkle cashes high now Was he turns it around, turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around, turn it around Turn it around, see the silver stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Cold night in December, in an earlier time Another place, formed all around him A fireplace bell's on a young boy's face Nosed to the wind though the snowflake stands This must be once clear See the sparkle cashes high now Can you see it in there? Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Cold night in December, and a young man drifts The falling snow, warm shines from windows But it don't shine on him, he's got some place to go Lights in the maroon, let it out on an empty glass See the sparkle cashes high now Oh, did it find you at last? Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Cold night in December, in a shelter On the blower street line, I ascend the window The size of his bow is north and wide Snowflakes and rainfall, mingled all the icy ground See them sparkle in his blue blue eyes Oh, as he turns it around Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Turn it around, turn it around See the stone stars fall from blue blue sky Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around Are you wishing in hope, or do you wish you could die Or do you wish you could turn it around One of the reasons I like serving the Meals there is because it gives me a chance to connect with people who I don't meet in my regular walk of life That is to say, I'm college educated, and I tend to hang with college educated people Are there any people who come there regular to make sure that that mix is preserved? I wish that Bill Gates ate there regularly, for instance Not because he needs the money, but because if he and George Bush and me and everyone ate there along with poor people, or with people who are in between jobs or people who are suffering from mental illness, then I think we'd be more responsive to all of our neighbors Are there any people who come and help establish that full broad range of community? I think almost on a daily basis that happens, and it happens with the teams that do come to serve and provide the meal. That is certainly an opportunity for people to visit with people from other walks of life. So why did you take this job? Wouldn't you have preferred to be in an upscale bank working? What led you to this job instead of some other job that might have been more remunerative? I'm imagining you're not making a hundred thousand a year at this one. No, and probably every job I've ever taken has not been for the money. I've always been someone who likes to reach out and help a community wherever I've lived. The community table, as far as taking this position, I think was an offshoot of a job that I had already had previously. I've been here for three years and served in the capacity of Executive Director at St. Francis Food Pantry. I do that on a 30-hour basis. So being a part of that organization has helped me learn resources within our community, and when this position was opened within the community table, I just saw it as a perfect mix. I do this on a very small scale. I just work every other weekend, and it's just a way for me to still touch hopefully lives of people in a positive way, make a connection with them, help them celebrate how supportive this community especially is for them, because I have lived east coast and midwest and rural communities and big cities and have definitely observed here in Eau Claire and the area that this is probably the most giving, the most supportive, the most hands-on group of people that really do aspire to reach out and help one another. I wonder if you can describe for me the people who actually prepare and serve the meals. I think it rotates through and there's a lot of different groups come in. I know for instance the Quaker meeting is only there two times per year. I think there's other groups that do it virtually weekly. Where do these people who prepare the meals come from and what seems to motivate them? I would say roughly 50, maybe 60 percent of those that come to serve the meals, they are connected some way to a local community church. I also see a great deal of organizations, banks and civic groups and sorority groups and professional fraternities and just a really a tremendous variance of organizations within our community and then there are even some individuals that actually come in and say I'd love to help out but I don't have a formalized team because most of them are teams of about six to eight people. We gladly take their names and kind of semi-formulate interesting teams as a result of that. I'd like to check a perception with you. My sense is that probably it's the mainline Christian churches. By that I mean Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Catholic that take their turns most regularly at community table. My sense is some of what we might call the more conservative or fundamentalist churches may have these kind of ministries but they do it within their church as opposed to within an ecumenical setting. Do you have any knowledge pro or con about that assumption that I'm making? I would agree that it tends to be the direction that you are sharing. It is more of the Lutheran United Methodist, the Catholic. I guess that's the broadest range that I've seen in the last few months that I have worked there. I'm wondering if you can talk about any special personalities and feel free to change their names. People you really look forward to see are that you really enjoy just seeing them and they bring some delight to your day. It's interesting that some of the families and members that are there have a great deal of ownership within the community table. They have their set tables, they have their set seats, they like to take care of their little areas. There's a lot of connection within members. There's a lot of greeting and meeting amongst one another that I think is just a wonderful joy to see. There are some different gentlemen that tend to enjoy sharing their life stories and how their lives have been and how this is important for them and has made an impact to them. Some are homeless and have been homeless for a number of years. One gentleman that I met was introduced one time by the director, was one of the four runners who actually was able to get the community table started. So it was fun to see someone who was so instrumental and very supportive and still so joy-filled and probably from everything I can understand still homeless. The personalities I guess are just so broad but it is just such a friendly atmosphere. Welcoming to newcomers again me being someone who's only been here for two months it's amazing to me how they have welcomed me. You know I have become part of their family because they really are an extended family. Yes some may come in a little blue but you know what someone else will go over and talk to them. There are people who are mentally ill who come to these programs. Have you ever felt afraid? People do sometimes lie out in the hook. Are you just completely free of fear? I partly believe that many of us who live a middle-class existence in the United States are sometimes afraid to associate with homeless people because they're but for the grace of God go we. I have never been afraid. I shouldn't say that. I actually have within my work at St. Francis Food Pantry. I have had some individuals who have had some outburst or just a situation that's maybe not a very comfortable situation for those people around them. I do have a very limited experience in working with people with mental health issues but I do think I know some of the warning signs and some of the triggers and I think sometimes just with that awareness of what the situation looks like what the scenario is. I think oftentimes situations can be lessened and occurrences can be thwarted. I have worked for three years at St. Francis and I've only had two incidences and they weren't something that probably too many other people outside of small and grew even aware of the situation. I was walking out one day with a sad and lonely face. Son of man coming my way with a slow and major face. He stopped and asked in a kindly way what made me look so blue. Said old man the world is changing so fast I can hardly catch my breath. Every place I look I see hunger pain and death. Then he spoke to me again with a twinkle in his voice. Young old man every day the sun comes on. God let God break our joy. We got to work slowly if we could listen in a changing world. It's more than ever to have a little more. And have a little baby John, one more day to play. We're sittin' all you people moving to the land. All doctors and lawyers in the hand. We locked the growers back at the growers and the builders too. Every new day gives a new chance for me and you. We got to work slowly if we could listen to the world in a changing world. It's more than ever to have a little more. And have a little baby John, one more day to play. We wake up all you people, look around. All the teachers and the teachers in the land. You dance with us more and more and more. All that and you just listen to our song. We got to work slowly if we could listen to the sounds. In a changing world it's more than ever to have. And have a little more and have a little baby John, one more day to play. We got to work slowly if we could listen to the world in a changing world. And have a little baby John, one more day to play. We got to work slowly if we could listen in a changing world. It's more than ever to have a little baby John, one more day to play. We got to work slowly if we could listen in a changing world. It's more than ever to have a little baby John. I think in some ways your sense that it's a perfectly comfortable place to be is not where most people in middle-class America are. I think there's imagined fears and imagined dangers. You know like better watch your wallet because they're poor people they may take it. I think there's a fear of that that's created in our country. Were you always just completely fearless? It's not because I think you can bench press 500 pounds or something. How did you get to be fearless? How did you get to be comfortable? Can you remember a time when you weren't so? That's a very interesting question. As a young child, a young person, I was probably very quiet. I know I was very quiet, very shy individual. Certainly had strong support systems with family, with church, so I had a very strong grounding. And I do think that probably did bring as I matured that sense of fearlessness, but I wouldn't call it necessarily fearlessness. It's just that assurance. I have always all my life had the assurance that I was a child of God and I was loved by God. As child like as that was and is, it is my grounding. It is my foundation. And I certainly as a young child was someone who was very shy and very quiet. And probably where I can see the transition or change for me was probably as a young adult. I went into a profession in a field that dealt with helping children in hospitals and developed my own program and presented my own program to pediatricians and administrators and hospitals and people who maybe should have made me afraid because of their power and their prestige, but it was a program and a concept that I thought was so very important that I really wanted to share what I thought would be valuable for this community. I grew up in West Virginia and actually went back to a community about 20 miles from my home and made a presentation basically to a regional medical center to say we need to be the advocates for children. It was a program called Child Life. It was during the times of the early 70s. At that point in time, most community hospitals would not allow sibling visitation, would not let parents even be in the same room or spend the night with their children. It was a tremendously traumatic time for children, especially just the trauma of being in a hospital. So my program was an advocacy program. We became the advocates for the children. We became surrogate parents for the children until we did push hard so that parents could visit and spend the night and be available for their children. I think probably my fearlessness kind of came from seeing myself as an advocate. My early career was that then I went on to make my priority being an at-home mom and raised our children and definitely had them involved in mission sort of ventures all our lives. We've just always been a family that has said let's try to make a difference to those people around us. We were the families that would make the phone calls to the homeless shelters and say can we bring in Thanksgiving dinner? We would go to the runaway houses and just find an opportunity anywhere we could. We've always had a connection that way but fearless, I don't know, I think more just I understand who's I am, I understand the love and support that I have from God and from communities that if we work together we can make a difference. We can do something to help out. What is your support community? Is it your family? Is it your church? Is it your family of origin? Is it your friends? My support community has always been my family and my supportive community yes was my family but also was really wherever I lived and the impact that they placed on me. I think with a small town seeing those very same people that would come to the store would also be the same people that I would see in my church oftentimes. That definitely was a great deal of my supportive community because I truly did see my church as my second home. We were more of the tradition that it wasn't just Sunday. We did a lot of youth things. My mother was a Sunday school teacher, my father was a treasurer, was on the trustee so they were very connected within their church. I remember as a young child having the Wednesday nights were the missionaries that would come from many different countries and share their stories and again church was my second home. It was as much of a home feeling for me when I walked in the doors as my own personal family home was and then to grow from marriage with my husband who is now a pastor at United Methodist Church and he's been a pastor for roughly 12 to 15 years I think now. Don has always been a support to me but it is interesting that in our journey we were not a Christian church going couple initially. My husband actually was not a practicing Christian when I met him. I was a quiet witness he says to him but at a point in his life when some of his choices and decisions were altered he kept seeing a consistency with me and he kept seeing a piece within me PEACE that tended to finally have him gravitate and really ask what is it that you have that I don't seem to have and so for us it's been a very interesting journey. Now we're connected in that way but certainly didn't have that connection early on in our marriages. So Michelle it seems that you converted your husband along the way. I don't know if he'd see it that way. He's considered as these things go in church circles as being a minister. Do you see yourself as a minister and were you Methodist of upbringing? Yes I was. I was United Methodist I believe it's 8th generation my husband actually jokes about it and can tell you exactly how many generations it is because he was actually a raised Episcopalian from parents who were Presbyterian and Methodist and so he actually had a various I guess disciplines although very similar and more of the mainline types of churches but when we did decide to become part of a church family I did kind of leaning just a little bit towards the roots that I was comfortable with. So we did actually journey through a variety of church families as we began this early ministry and during the conversion process of sorts and so when things did change for him and it was a profound experience for him it was a time for him to say that I'd really like to try to understand more of what it is that you do see and that you do feel and that you do know. It was battered and scarred and the old auctioneer. He thought it scarcely worthwhile to waste much time with the old violin. He held it up with a smile. What am I sittin good folks, he cried. Old stars are fittin for me. Dollar a dollar, now we'll make it two. Two dollars and we'll make it three. Three dollars, one cents, three dollars twice. Going for three bucks, no. From the back of the room, oh great men came forward and fixed up the ball. Wiping the duck from the old violin. Pidening up the oostering. He played a melody pure and so sweet, sweet as the angel sings. When the music sees the old auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and blown. What am I sittin for the old violin? He held it up with a bow. A thousand dollars, now we'll make it two. Two thousand and we'll make it three. Three thousand ones and three thousand twice. Going and gone, cry. The people through it and some of them cried. We do not quite understand what changed his words with came the recline. The touch of the master's hand. And many men live life out of tune and bad hurt and start with sin. He's auctioned deep to the farthest crowd, much like the old violin. I'll make the pitch glad the wine again and he travels on. He's going once and he's going twice. Going in the almost gone. The master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the words of a poem and the change that is wrought by the touch of the master's hand. And the master comes and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the words of a poem and the change that is wrought by the touch of the master's hand. Is it hard for you to be a minister's wife? I have the sense of the spouses and children of a minister as having acceptable, respectable and perfect. I like that question because I am probably so maybe untypical of what people think, which is exactly what you're saying. I don't dress perfect. I don't talk perfect. I don't do perfect things all of my life and times. I'm just a normal person. I don't want to be put on a pedestal. I don't want to be looked at differently. Are you saying that it's okay for preachers' wives and preachers to have arguments and be flawed? Absolutely, positively. If anything, I celebrate that. One of my favorite stories here in Eau Claire was the very first week that we moved to Eau Claire and became part of our church family. One of our church members was not in church that Sunday during the service but that afternoon we were serving at community table. I came in and introduced myself as someone new to the community and began scrubbing pots, washing dishes, serving meals, doing what we do for community table. Just introduced myself as Michelle, didn't give my last name and people welcomed me and glad to have you here. No one had a clue because the team that was there had not been participant members of church that morning or maybe met me but didn't recognize me because we were still relatively new and so the following Sunday when we were still kind of making announcements saying this is the new pastor, this is the new pastor's wife, stand up, you know, introduce your children. I was actually sitting about two seats down from the gal that I had had the most conversation with and she just flushed the minute she saw that, oh my goodness, you mean I was actually washing dishes with the pastor's wife? I just read the memoirs of a woman who grew up Lutheran and married a man who became a Lutheran minister and along the way she found out that that didn't fit for her as a spiritual home. She became Quaker and that was a whole struggle for him because she's married to the minister but doesn't go to his church. Could that happen within your family? Would that be acceptable or is that just you you've got to get divorced because you're not Methodist? I'm sure it could happen with their and their family. In fact, it has as far as our children, they've attended other denominations of churches, gone to youth groups at other denominations of churches, visited girlfriends, boyfriends, just friend friends at different denominations and we celebrate that. I think we are bigger than that and God is certainly bigger than that to accept whatever choices we make in whatever directions we take. If it's a direction that can bring us closer to God by transferring to a different denomination, then I think we as a family unit would certainly celebrate that. God is is real to us in our own unique ways and whatever denomination can be supportive in that, then I would celebrate that for my children, my family, myself, my husband, you know, if there were ever changes, that would not be an issue. Are women allowed to be uppity in Methodist circles and by that I mean do women have to defer to husbands as head of the household? Are women allowed to be ministers within United Methodist circles? Is there equality or is there a pecking order determined by biblical sources? There is definitely equality within the United Methodist system. There are many women pastors, women are celebrated equally with men. There is no pecking order. My understanding is that Methodist and a number of other what we know as mainline Christian churches got very involved in the social gospel in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There was temperance movement and there was all kinds of work to help the poor and needy. I would also refer to these churches as strongly emphasizing the Sermon on the Mount. Do you hear a lot of preaching about Sermon on the Mount in Methodist circles? I think traditionally in most Methodist circles, the liturgy is actually spread through a three-year cycle. It's a liturgy that actually goes through the entire Bible using all of the scripture passages within a three-year cycle. So yes, I hear about Sermon on the Mount. It's that every three years may be a little bit more because of Sermon on the Mount as mentioned in more than just one scripture of the New Testament. So yes, it's preached upon but all parts of the Bible are typically preached upon in the United Methodist structure. I know oftentimes I hear pastors say that it is a challenge to sometimes preach some parts of the gospel and some parts of the Old Testament that are difficult, but they celebrate that because we are as Christians those that follow all components of the Bible. Let me make my question clear. I think there are some churches that kind of ignore the Sermon on the Mount. I have big debates with one of my brothers because I don't think he wrestles with or maybe hears in his fundamentalist church the stuff about Jesus' attitude towards how we deal with our enemies. My question is, are those attitudes that Jesus speaks so strongly about and Paul and actually also the things like attitudes towards war? Are those emphasized or are those kind of skipped over in the lecture that you've heard Michelle since you were a child? I don't think anything's ever been skipped over. One thing that I celebrate as being part of a United Methodist structure is that the day, the reality, the issues that are going on right now are addressed. I see Michelle that it's very important to you to just be helping people. Are you also evangelical? I know that for some religions the reason you go out and do all these things is so that you can win souls for Christ. What role do you have doing this service? I'm not a person who speaks necessarily directly to individuals about Christ or about God. I will possibly at times bring that into part of a conversation but I wouldn't say an evangelical but evangelical as you perceive it as someone who is predominantly there to share the love of Christ. That isn't something that I have to say and I think for me it becomes more of my example hopefully generates that but to sit back and say you know this is because of God or you know I thank God for these opportunities I do but I don't necessarily verbalize that. I'm sure you know Michelle that a lot of churches teach or advocate that if you're not part of their religion and haven't gone through their ropes that you go to hell that they've got the corner on the truth and so I'm sure some of them believe it absolutely imperative out of love that you save someone's soul get them to convert in the way that they think. That isn't a motivation for you? No because I guess I feel like that's a very personal component that an individual has with God and with Christ themselves. I think Christ comes to us I think God comes to us when the time is right. It's just something that I don't see that has to be my role. I think it's so much more personal I think God is always knocking I think God is always seeking and I think every individual just needs to take the time to turn around and find him but it's not just so easy as that sometimes and it's wherever our life journey takes us and wherever we are individually to be able to hear God. So I find it just something that I'm not comfortable with. God is so much more bigger and so much more broader in his wisdom than we are. It's something that I just don't feel like that's my role. I don't think that's for me to say. I think that's between God and the individual. [Music] I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. When you were talking earlier, Michelle, you said that there are people who've been a community table for more than 10 years. I think you said that they were there from the onset. If you don't see your role as saving souls for Christ, does it feel like a failure at all to think that they're maybe homeless for dozens of years or on the public dole for dozens of years? What is the drive? What is the sign of success in the job that you do? I think my biggest sign of success is to be supportive. My goal is not there to save souls for Christ, but my goal is there just to be a connectional part of the family. And when I say family, it really means God's family. So there's not a big drive. I mean, I don't have this big goal and vision out there that I have to accomplish something. It's the little things. It's the day to day. This is my family. This is where they are today. These are the impacts that I can make a difference. I don't perceive being able to cure anything overnight to have everyone be completely financially stable. I just see it more of how can I make an impact today? How can I brighten your smile today? How can I know that you're an individual that loves flowers and we get flowers sometimes from local stores. And so now I know when she walks in the door, I find her, I see her, I bring her a flower. Do you think there's something positive or negative that you do relative to what is done by the public social service structure? Why don't we just leave it all to the professionals who know how to do social services, right? Because they've got degrees in it. Because I think oftentimes the professionals are swamped with caseloads. I think they do a tremendously good job. The caseworkers that I do know are oftentimes, and this may surprise some people, they are the ones that take off their lunch hour and come and pick up the boxes for their client who is handicapped or physically incapable or doesn't have a car. And they're the ones that take the food boxes to that family and to that home. And because of them, within the profession of human services, without them, that individual wouldn't get food. That doesn't sound very much like the stereotype that's out there of bureaucracy people just putting their nine to five and getting out of there and not really caring about the quality of the job they do. I agree, and we should celebrate more people like that. Do I think or do I know if all of the caseworkers are that compassionate? I know too. I don't know how many else are out there, but I do think that there's a very personal side to the caseworkers that work with our families. Isn't St. Francis food pantry of origin a Catholic group, and do you work for nuns? Actually, I work for sisters, which are different than nuns, and they would have to explain the difference, but it started from the Sisters of St. Francis. It was the order of the Sisters from St. Francis. They are connected, it was Sister Francis Regis and Sister Joal Jacobi, who 26 years ago, they, on their own, opted to just contact the hospital, see if there would be leftover food at the end of the day, just something very basic food that would normally have probably been thrown away, was then treated as a, let's take this on as a mission, let's do it properly with the proper health codes and actually bag and sort and label and prepare this food, and they would take it back to their home and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer and pass it out as the need came, and what happened is it much more and more people came and more and more needs became apparent in the hospital alone, the food that was provided as leftover was not adequate to fill the needs. My understanding is, they, on their own, contacted all of the area of grocery stores, which we are still connected with and still pick up on a daily basis any surplus produce, any surplus bread, any surplus deli items, and then we can have them provided at our facility, and it is truly grown to where they were serving just a few families, to where we serve close to 350 families a week, giving out close to 17,000 pounds of food a week. Have you seen any growth in the number of people who need services at the food pantry? I've been concerned over the last few years that with the redirection of funds that there's less public funding for hungry people and considerable growth in this areas that you're servicing. We have kept statistics since 1997, and unfortunately, every single quarter of every single year, the numbers of families and the numbers of adults and children, so the combined numbers have increased every single year. I do think you're correct in that many of the funding resources that we depend on to help support some of our structure have diminished somewhat. We're still able to glean some, which is wonderful, but I think it really is true that there is more of a strain there, and we definitely see more newer families, families that have never attended our pantry before are coming, and reasons are across the board. How does someone offer to help or request help from the St. Francis food pantry? To request help, it can be in a myriad of ways they can come in on the doorstep, and if it's the first time that they've ever been to our facility, we will offer them food, and we will explain our program because we don't want to deny anyone food at any time, and we're located at 1221 True Axe Boulevard. We are on the bus line, which makes it very nice. It stops every half an hour an hour, right at our facility, and we'll pick up people right across the street from the facility, so we're accessible through the bus line, and we're able to have food distributed to our families four different times throughout the week, so if someone were to come into our office when we are not currently open and giving out food, we try to offer some surplus items that we might have, and then we give them a schedule of when they can come back. We usually can then offer to them if you don't have enough food to make it until tomorrow when we're open, you know, this is where you can go, and we give them thousands of how to get to the community table at the basement of the park and rec building on first avenues so that they can hopefully get a hot meal. We always have enough bread to give out. We always can give out a few sandwiches and things like that that can hold people over if the need is truly dire that day, and we do emergency boxes, you know, as we can. So the way that people can receive the food is to come in, obviously, if they'd like to call it a time and get some more specific information, we do encourage just to have some conversations so that they know what sort of paperwork they need to bring with them so that they can be approved through a kind of a long-term process. We typically meet with our families and generally approve the distribution for a three-month cycle, and then we revisit with them at the end of three months just to see if things have changed. I'm also part of the Eau Claire County Hunger Foundation, which is a broad group of community service individuals and organizations and nonprofits as well as the professionals who then we meet together on a quarterly basis, and we have been real diligent about keeping a resource directory available, and we actually have like a four-fold resource directory that outlines almost everything you could possibly want so category by food and shelter and clothing and things of that sort to assist our families as well. From a volunteer standpoint, they could certainly call, and our number is 839-7706, or they could come in to our facility at 1221 True Acts. We are fortunate that we have many different agencies that we work with already, that work within our system. We have schools that come in and do special projects. Many of the churches just have involvement either through their youth groups or their adult Sunday school classes or Bible study classes. We have close to 200 volunteers that work regularly on a weekly basis. It does take a tremendous number of people to make what we do possible. Really from a volunteer standpoint, just give us a call as the best way. We'll talk to you. We'll send out an application. We'll kind of get a sense of what you might really be interested in and where your gifts are and where our needs are and see if we can match it up that way. We have a lot of snowbirds that go away in the winter, so sometimes we all miss to have like a six-month core team that work for the summer months, and then they take off, and then we have another core team that stay for the winter and help out. And we're open Monday through Saturdays. Monday were 8-7, and Tuesday through Saturday were 8-330. We give out food four times a week, but all the, actually five times a week now, counting that home healthcare agency that we provide for. So we really only have one solid day of restocking. And what about with the community table? How does someone get involved in either helping there or in eating there and what hours they open? The community table, just call the phone number and we're in the phone book under the community table. Oftentimes you will get an answering service, but just leave your name and speak clearly and leave a call back phone number, and then our director will contact you and coordinate a time to get together. The hours of operation are, let's see if I can remember the schedule, I know it's Tuesdays and Friday evenings, we do a supper meal, so that's from five to six fifteen. And then Monday, it would be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday would be a daytime meal, that's 1130-1. That's possibly a good time to connect, but oftentimes there's a team there, but actually there is an onsite coordinator there every day as well. So I would say if someone was interested in volunteering for the community table, just try to find out who the onsite coordinator is for that day and set up an appointment. Then we also serve on Sundays as well, and then we serve from three to four fifteen. So every day of the week is available. I know the weekends tend to be times that are often difficult to fill. Really there's probably a need all times, I mean right now I know there's a couple openings even for the month of September, so if someone's interested, call the number in the phone book. It's at 1300 First Avenue, which is actually in the basement of the park and rec facility, the park and rec building, and Eau Claire. I want to thank you Michelle for your continued witness and caring for the poor. I see it as a valuable Christian witness, and it's wonderful to see the way that you take joy in sharing love with others. Thank you. I do see it as a ministry in it. It's a joy to be part of any community and help out in any way I can, and certainly this is a match that's worked very, very well for me, so I thank you for your time as well. You've been listening to an interview with Michelle Grible, executive director of the St. Francis Food Bank, weekend on-site supervisor for the community table, and a board member of the Feed My People Food Bank. Music featured in this program includes "Turn It Around" by Canadian artist Eileen McGann, "Work Don't Weep" by Andy Murray, "This Little Light of Mind" by the "I'm Going to Let It Shine" choir, and "The Touch of the Master's Hand" by Sally Rogers. The theme music for "Spirit In Action" is "I Have No Hands but Yours" by Carol Johnson. Next week on "Spirit In Action" we'll be visiting with Barb Cass, a member of the Anataut Community Farm of Luck Wisconsin for some 20 years. The community is a witness in living sustainably while carrying powerful peace and justice activism to the region. They're home to Elf Watch, Northwest Peace Initiative, and many more programs for progressive change. Join me on Sunday, September 18th at noon for an interview with Barb Cass of the Anataut Community Farm here on "Spirit In Action." Thank you for listening. I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. You can email me at helpsmeet@usa.net. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is "Spirit In Action." I have no idea how you call who you believe. The love and love your neighbor enjoy and lovelessness. The love and love your neighbor enjoy and lovelessness. [music fades out]