Walking to the food pantry

I arrived in the North Country over the weekend, first for a cousin's 50th wedding anniversary celebration, and then to spend a few days getting oriented at GardenShare.

Over dinner last night, my sister-in-law told me an incredible story that speaks to the needs in the area.  She volunteers at one of the church-based food pantries in Gouverneur, my hometown and where my brother and his wife still live.  She told me that two weeks ago at the pantry, she met an elderly woman, who had walked all the way from Fine to Gouverneur.  I checked and it's 28 miles!

The woman was preparing to walk back when my sister-in-law  talked to her and found out that she had walked.  The church's pastor found a ride for the woman to get her home with her three bags of groceries.

Can you imagine being so desperate that you would walk 28 miles and then plan to carry three bags of groceries and walk 28 miles home?

Whether we find ways to bring the food to the people or the people to the food is clearly a legitimate question, but we can certainly not expect our seniors to walk more than 50 miles round trip just for a few bags of groceries!

Gloria