Seeds of Hope

"Planting a Harvest One Seed at a Time" is the motto of the Seeds of Hope Food Pantry that operates from the basement of the Beacon of Hope Church of God in Bangor, Maine. Every Thursday from 10am to 1pm, the pantry is open to patrons that qualify for assistance, but the day begins much earlier than that for the hardy staff of the pantry.

Many days the first workers arrive at 6:00 a.m. to begin transforming the Sunday school and Youth room into the food pantry. The little basement includes a corner kitchen, a tiny nursery, a bathroom (not available to the public and sometimes too full of boxes and racks for even the staff to use), and a half dozen portable wooden dividers used to provide artificial separation that many small churches experience as they make the most of limited space.

There is one door for coming and going. Only work staff are allowed in and out before 10am. The director of the pantry, Mr. Isaac Mann, comes and goes with the truck, collecting from donors and delivering to the pantry as the rest of the staff sets up the tables and positions the dividers. Each of the regular staff members is assigned to a station. He or she must set up his or her own station, displaying the goods available that day.

Three of the dividers are used to show which way patrons should go when they first enter the pantry. The old upright piano shares a similar function, blocking one corner of the room to give order to the entryway. Every patron turns left at the end of the piano and signs in at the registration table; returning patrons are assigned which weeks they can come for assistance and must show their pantry-issued cards when signing in.

From that point, they go from one station to the next in an awkward loop through the basement, selecting what they want from each section (within the posted limits). Some experienced patrons bring reusable shopping bags while others use the plastic bags donated to the pantry and sorted to make sure there are no holes in them.

Patrons make just one loop through the setup, so they must remember to look at the tables on each side of them to acquire all the goods offered. The first station on the left as they leave the registration table is dry goods. Oftentimes, there are quart-sized ziploc bags of dog food, followed by an assortment of toys, calculators, markers, bath & body products and more. On the opposite tables they find clothes or snack foods.

As they turn the corner to the right (about twelve feet down the line from the registration table), they come to the breads and pastries. Breads include white and wheat, oat nut, rye, bagels, english muffins, brown 'n' serve rolls, hamburger and hotdog buns, and more. Some days there is a limit of two from that table, while on other days patrons can have four or more. The pastries table has cookies, round cakes, sheet cakes, bite-sized treats, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, and more.

Ten feet further and it's time to turn the corner again. The inner tables, the ones to the patrons' right, continues with snack foods, typically. In the warm months, ice cream is often available. The rest of the year, it's wafers, digestive biscuits, juice boxes, and the like.

The outer ring of tables has the meat, literally. At that last corner is a container of drinks--soda and bottled water, mostly. Then there are a series of coolers from which the patrons can choose "heat & eat" foods such as rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, cheese & broccoli, and so on, all packaged to give equal servings to each patron.

After the coolers are the vegetables and fruit, including squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, onions, bagged spinach, lettuce, green beans, broccoli and salads. Then there are sandwiches or small containers of chicken salad, fruit, and the choice of meat- and cheese-ends. Finally, bags of potatoes top off the offerings of the day. When the patrons reach the potatoes they are at the door again, ready to be on their way.

The pantry staff members stand at each station, giving friendly directions and smiles to the patrons. Some staffers walk through the line with patrons, carrying their bags and then helping them to their cars.

A local pizzeria donates lunch to the staff every Thursday, and the fellowship time is refreshing after the labors of the day. Then it's time to clean up, put the basement back in order for youth group and church.