I had the great opportunity and pleasure to volunteer at the
Northeast Community Kitchen in Danielson as part of Web Industries Hartford’s (the
company that I work for) service to our community campaign.
When I arrived I was greeted by a woman named Connie. Connie is a middle aged woman who seemed a
little rough around the edges and is the site coordinator for the Danielson
Community Kitchen. Connie immediately
set to work dicing ham. When I asked
what the menu for the day was, she replied, it was going to be macaroni salad
and Sloppy Joes, but her plans were changed when the hamburger she was promised
never came through so she quickly changed the menu to her version of and
Italian Wedding soup, macaroni salad with ham and baked beans. You see, the Community Kitchens in Northeast
CT rely heavily on donations from the CT Food Bank and local Supermarkets, and
when something doesn’t come through like hamburger, Connie has to make do with
what she has in her freezer and storage closet.
I was astounded by what she did with so little. Connie took 4 pounds of frozen meatballs have
two volunteers cut them into smaller pieces as the meat in her soup. The 8 pounds of diced ham was prepared to be
part of the macaroni salad. As the
recipients of the lunch arrived, some by 10:00, lunch isn’t served till 12:00;
they were all greeted by Connie and offered a beverage and snack.
There were 66 people served lunch, for many of them this
meal was most likely there only meal for the day. There were homeless families; people from the
two local shelters and some just down on their luck and Connie knew them all,
if not when they arrived, definitely by the time they left. When
one person asked if there was enough for them to have seconds, Connie replied,
“No one goes hungry when Connie’s cooking, you know that.” There wasn’t a soul she didn’t treat with
respect and dignity, regardless of their circumstance. Prior to the meal being
finished she told all of the volunteers “you make sure no now leaves here
without a loaf of bread and a plate to take home if they want it.” When everyone left, be it someone who came
for lunch or a volunteer, we all left with an offer of more food, a loaf of
bread and a kind word from Connie.
This was one of the most moving experiences in my life. I know all areas are affected by the level of
need I saw, but I was blind. Blind
because I never want to see the true need.
Not seeing the true need meant our community was exempt from it, it
didn’t happen. There were no homeless,
no drug addicts. How could there be, I
never see them. What a wonderfully
sheltered life I lead. When I saw a
group of VERY dedicated volunteers giving of themselves unselfishly; judging no
one, it made me somewhat embraced. How
dare I turn a blind eye? I do not live a
life of luxury; I don’t have expensive clothes, what makes me better than
anyone else? These questions keep going
through my mind over and over again.
The other question that keeps my mind reeling is, are we as
an organization doing enough? Are we making
sure our community service projects are truly needed by the community? Are we focused on our community service
efforts? CAN WE DO MORE? We can, and we must.
To insure my family does not live with the blindness I
unknowingly have, I have asked each of them to volunteer this summer at the
Community Kitchen here in town; and I challenge every Grange member to dig deep
within side themselves and truly make a difference in your community, not for
the Grange, but for you.
