Some people have misconceptions of food pantries and the people who come to them. I know I did before I began volunteering at Grace Now.

I first became involved with Grace Now in October 2002. The food pantry, which had been started by a couple of people in my church, had been operating for about 10 months. For the first year or so of my experience at Grace Now, we might have a handful a clients in each night; granted we were open more nights a week than we are now. But back then providing food to about 20-30 families a week seemed like a huge number. Now, due to limited resources, we're only open one night a week and we provide for 60-80 families a week. We are now a separate Kentucky non-profit corporation and are a 501(c)3 corporporation. People from numerous churches and organizations, as well as some current or former clients, make up our all-volunteer staff.

Unlike a lot of food pantries, Grace Now seeks to build relationships with our clients. Our mission is to make a positive difference in our community by providing resources, particularly food and clothing, to people in need, and to assist them in a way that treats them with dignity and demonstrates to them God’s unconditional love and grace. Sometimes this personal touch means slower processing times, but it's what makes going to the pantry on Monday nights worth it.

There are many stories I could share from my seven years at Grace Now, but a few stand out.

A few years ago, my husband and I were eating dinner at the Chinese buffet when a woman in her 50s came up to our table. She looked familiar, and I was in that "I know you but can't place you" state in my mind. She identified herself as a former Grace Now client and wanted to thank us for helping her. She was excited to tell us that she had just finished a nursing degree at a local community college and that the help the food pantry gave her during a difficult time had meant a lot to her.

A certain man has been coming to the pantry for at least as long as I've been associated with it. He's a short, rotund man whose plaid shirt never seems to button completely around his belly. His face is scruffy and his hands are always black with grease and dirt. When he speaks, I have to listen carefully because he mumbles a bit. In other circumsatnces, I might be tempted to avoid contact with him--but I'd be missing out on being around one of the sweetest people in the world. Several years back, he came into Grace Now on his birthday. The former director of the food pantry said to him that if she had known it was his birthday she'd have baked him a cake. He then confessed that he'd never had a birthday cake. The next day, she baked him a cake and took it to his house. The next time he came into the pantry, my husband--ever the jokester--was ragging on Mr. M for eating the cake because he's diabetic. "You stay out of my business," he laughed as he wagged a finger in Glenn's face. (People have been known to be disappointed if Glenn isn't working, asking "Where's the guy that always picks on me?"). And every time since then when Mr. M comes into Grace Now there's a lot of laughing and joking and hugging.

Over the years, we've talked to and prayed with people who are going through personal or health crises; we've befreinded people who are trying to break free of addictions; we've celebrated with them the joys in their lives and mourned with them their losses; we've encouraged them when they've decided to go back to school; and we've worked with them to find the necessary resources to simply survive.

To be sure, not every story is a success story. But my job isn't to judge. Grace, after all, is undeserved, unearned. I'm grateful for the opportunity to help meet the needs of people who are struggling in life--an experience I'm thankful I haven't had to endure. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to meet the people who come to Grace Now. Each person is is a gift.
Orignally posted as a note on Facebook