Clinton Township Newsletter

9 o c t o b e r 2 0 2 3 To a person, Open Cupboard Pantry and Thrift Shop volunteers will tell you they find the work satisfying and rewarding. Many of our dedicated volunteers are retirees who decided it was time for them to "give back" to their community. the Open Cupboard Food Pantry, Inc. Elaine Skarl of Clinton Township joined the Open Cupboard volunteer rolls right after it moved to its current location in 2009. "For 35 years I commuted to New York City," she said. "I couldn't do anything because I had a long day. Once I retired, I decided it was time to start giving back. That's when I went over to the pantry and volunteered." Elaine started with Wednesday mornings, soon added Friday evenings, and more recently started coming in Saturday mornings as well. "I've been putting client information into the new automated system we're setting up," she said. "That's almost done, and then it will just be a matter of keeping it current. People move, families change, so we're always updating." The system went live in January 2021, and Elaine wrote procedures for all the volunteers who work with clients as they come in, prepare orders, put out fresh foods on pantry days, straighten shelves at the end of the night, and discard out-of-date items. Her procedures also cover taking in donated food – weighing it, placing it on the proper shelves, or stacking it to be shelved during another shift. "We can have four, five, six people coming in with donations, including church and scout food drives," she said. "They can come in with 700, 800, 900 pounds of stuff." In her work life, Elaine ran the purchasing department for an international Wall Street firm, so "this kind of follows suit." "My very first job with the company right out of college was writing procedures," she said, "so I've come full circle – after all these years, I'm writing procedures again." E l a i n e s a i d s h e w o u l d " d e f i n i t e l y recommend" volunteering for the Food Pantry and Thrift Shop. "It makes you feel very good," she said. "You know the people coming into the Pantry are there because they need to be. You're helping them and their family. Some people coming in are living on a very small Social Security check every month. I don't know how they do it, but they do." Serving hungry residents of Northern Hunterdon County Open Cupboard Food Pantry, Inc., is a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) agency. We believe our community has a responsibility to address the food needs of those who cannot afford to feed themselves and their families. Although less visible than in urban areas, the need in Hunterdon County is significant. Staffed entirely by volunteers, Open Cupboard Food Pantry in Clinton is funded by donations of food and money, and by proceeds of our in-house Thrift Shop, which accepts and sells donated clothing and household items. We also gratefully welcome donations of your time and talents as volunteers. Join us at our Meet & Greet on October 14, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm! Visit: www. OpenCupboardFoodPantry.org/volunteers for more information. To become a client or learn more about how you can help, call us at: 908.730.7320. w H y V o L u n T E E R A T T H E o p E n C u p b o A R D F o o D p A n T R y ? "The trees are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry, Under the October twilight the water mirrors a still sky." ~ William Butler Yeats "There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch." ~ Robert Brault

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