Update

This blog has been rather empty the last week as I made an emergency trip to the hospital.  I am back home now and hope to be back at work on Monday.  So, look for some new activity on the blog!

Gloria

Uncertainty and self-care - a message from Gloria

In my world at GardenShare, there are lots of things to worry about...  Fundraising did not meet our goals in 2016.  Where's the money going to come from in 2017?  Some of our new national political leadership have expressed clear desire to slash programs that help poor people, including those GardenShare works with.  The list could go on...

With all of this (and more!) uncertainty, it's more important than ever that we take care of ourselves.

And so, I will be doing just that.  Headed out on a ten-day vacation tomorrow to sunny Arizona.  I expect to get in some horseback riding, some hiking, and lots of general relaxation.

All of those challenges will be here when I get back, but hopefully my refreshed perspective and attitude will let me tackle them with renewed vigor!

Gloria


PS - Here's a photo of me riding Apache on an Arizona vacation three years ago in February!

On change

All this past year, as I have told people my story of growing up in the North Country, graduating from St. Lawrence University, and then moving away, before finally returning 35 years later, they have asked, "What has changed?"

It is an interesting question to think about, for much has changed.

The campuses have changed - major new buildings at SLU, whole new programs at Clarkson, and SUNY Canton?  Well, that was two-year Canton ATC when I left!

Dairy farming has changed.  150 cows was a huge farm back in the 70's.  Today a farm ten times that size isn't even among the biggest!  I learned that there are fewer farms, but more cows, than when I left!

The Neighborhood Centers were just getting started back then, in fact, one of my aunt's was one of the founders of the Gouverneur Neighborhood Center.  I'm glad to see they are still here and still lending a helping hand when needed.  I was surprised to see how many free will dinners and other food pantries have sprung up around the county, though.  This is a testament to the job losses the County has seen and the growing poverty that has resulted.

School systems have changed - consolidations meaning long bus rides for some kids and empty school buildings in some communities.  And the number of kids eligible for a free lunch at school has grown - today it's at 51% of our children!

I had the sense that the winter's had changed and gotten milder - but then I moved back in January of 2015 and that did not seem to be true!  But December of 2015 suggests that maybe it is, after all!

On the other hand, a lot has stayed the same - I came back to Canton and saw Josie's and Sergi's right next to each other just like always, the American Theater still going strong, the Hoot Owl around the corner, and a very similar feel to the place where I spent my four college years!

Yes, much has changed in my 35 years away. 

But what has not changed is the rich farmland and the resilient and caring people of St. Lawrence County.  No one here should go hungry and I'm glad to be back here and on the team trying to make it so!

Gloria

Different, but the same!

Some reflections from Gloria...

As most of you now, I worked in the food policy and anti-hunger field for the last thirty years in the Hartford, Connecticut area.  I'm marking my one-year anniversary at GardenShare in a few more days.  This anniversary has caused some reflection on  my experiences in this work over the years and what is different or similar about doing the work in St. Lawrence County rather than a more urban-suburban setting.

Last fall, while still in Connecticut, but after announcing my planned departure, I started the learning curve about the situation in St. Lawrence County.  And as I shared what I was learning with friends, coworkers, and community members in Hartford, they were astounded.  20% poverty rate in St. Lawrence County.  The only County with a significantly higher poverty rate is Bronx County.  And more than half of the children in the County qualify for a free lunch in school.  The City of Hartford has similar rates of poverty, but Hartford County and the State of Connecticut certainly do not!  So, in some ways the same, but in some ways different.

Some other thoughts on what's the same and what's different...

Transportation and access to large grocery stores - In Connecticut, the poorest urban neighborhoods tended not to have any supermarkets, forcing people to either shop in the higher price convenience stores, take a bus to the store (challenging to get home on the bus with groceries) or use some of their grocery money for taxis.  On returning to St. Lawrence County, where the access issue is the opposite - the larger villages have supermarkets, but people in outlying areas may have a challenge - I was pleased to see how the public transit with the NYSARC bus system has improved the situation.  But getting to the store for people without a car can still be a challenge.  I've also noted a difference in the convenience stores here compared to the city, in that those stores here tend to have more selection and some healthier choices, including some produce.

Programs to help children - In Connecticut, we were working hard to ensure that all children who were eligible received a free breakfast at school and a free lunch during the summer.  While we had made progress, when I left that state,  only 47% of the kids eligible for a free breakfast at school were actually getting that breakfast and only 25% of them were getting a meal in the summer.  These programs are even harder to run in remote and rural places like St. Lawrence County and our situation looks worse.   Only 41% of the children in the county who are eligible for it receive a free breakfast at school and only 13% of those eligible receive a meal in the summer.

Working poor - Data about families who have income above the limits for programs like SNAP and free school meals but are still food insecure tells us that this is a bigger problem in Connecticut, with 50% of the food insecure families in this situation.  In St. Lawrence County, 34% of our food insecure household have incomes too high for public assistance.  This is primarily about the cost of living, which is very high in Connecticut, meaning a higher income is required to cover basic living expenses.  In either case, whether it's a third or a half of the households, it's a problem that people who are working cannot put food on the table and cannot get help to do so!

Strategies families use to get food - I've seen research for both the City of Hartford and for St. Lawrence County indicating that low-income families use more strategies to get food.  Most of us use two or three strategies - the grocery store, a restaurant, maybe we grow some of our own.  Low-income families will use strategies like dropping in on a friend hoping to get fed or visiting a soup kitchen or food pantry.  Some of the strategies I saw families using in Hartford are the same here and some are different.  While St. Lawrence County families frequently name hunting or foraging as ways to get food, there is little of either going on in Hartford!

Saying all of this reminds me so much of what I learned over the years and repeated over and over in my work in Hartford.

Hunger is a complex problem that will require a variety of strategies to find a solution.  Building bigger food pantries or opening more free will dinners won't solve the problem.  As a community, we need to  find a variety of ways to attack this problem.

GardenShare's part of the solution is about connecting local people in need with fresh, healthy, locally grown food.  By helping low-income families buy CSA shares and SNAP recipients use the farmers markets, we are making a difference.  I hope we can count on you to be there and part of the solution as we explore some other strategies to tackle the problem of hunger in our midst. 

Anniversaries and holiday wishes!

It's Christmas Eve 2015, my 59th birthday, and the one year anniversary of my last day of work at Foodshare, after 30 years and 5 months in the position!

Last Christmas Eve, I was working, wrapping up final details and preparing for my move to the North Country.  This year, at GardenShare, Christmas Eve is a holiday for our employees and so, for the first time in many years, I have the day off without needing to use a vacation day!  But I am using the day to start a brief vacation and a visit to one of my children.

I've been thinking a lot about this upcoming one year anniversary at GardenShare.  The year has been exciting, challenging, frustrating, and I'm sure I could think of a dozen other ways to describe it.

But, there has never been a moment of doubt but that this was the right decision and the right place at the right time for me!

Look for some more thoughts on this first year in the coming week.

But right now, I wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!   Thank you for all of your support this past year.

Gloria

Why do this kind of work?

As you may know, I worked for thirty years running a food bank in Connecticut.  People would ask me what kept me motivated and the answer was always people - both the people who need a little help and the people who offered that help.

Facebook's "On This Day" feature tells me that I received this letter six years ago on this date.  This is the kind of thing that kept me motivated, even against the odds.  I'm not quite a year at GardenShare full-time, but I know there are stories just as eloquent here in the North Country.  If you have one, I hope you will share it by dropping me an e-mail or go here to make some anonymous comments.

Gloria

Here's the letter from six years ago:

Dear Gloria,

I received your request for me to renew my support of Foodshare, "although we have not heard from you in a while." The reason? I was unemployed for almost two years. My family supported me as best they could after all my savings were depleted. I called the church asking for help, they told me to call St. Vincent dePaul Society. I did. I cried on the phone with the worker. She tried to comfort me and tell me it was not my fault. She was going to bring me what canned goods were available for a vegetarian, but my mom said, "no," she would help me. I was desperate.

I finally landed a temp job, but by then, I was in a lot of debt. Eventually, I found a job. So, now I am slowly digging out of this financial hole. I don't wish this burden on anyone. The stress causes sickness, and when you have no insurance...

Thank God for you and the caring folks who have a clinic for people to go to when they need medical care. Even this is tough, getting there before they close (after work), but they saved my life.

Now, I don't have much to spare, but I want to help others who are caught with no money for food, clothing, the basic necessities.

God bless you for all that you do!

Peg

The challenges of small nonprofit work

As I was meeting with a prospective donor today, I was reflecting on the challenges of doing what I perceive as my life's work...

The single biggest challenge at a small organization is finding the time to do everything and the balance among competing priorities.  Should I be meeting with a donor who might fund something a year from now or should I be working on implementing this program I already have funding for?  Can I drop work on the annual fund appeal in order to attend to some program business that actually puts food on someone's table, or if I'm late getting the appeal out will it affect results and therefore our ability to put food on people's tables in the future.  There's this intriguing new program idea just starting to develop, but how do I find the time to develop the idea, raise the money to implement the idea, and keep all of our current programs afloat, too?

And then, of course, there is the jack-of-all-trades thing...today I worked on next year's budget, on a set of technology policies and procedures, met with a new volunteer, prepared for and ran a staff meeting (for all three of us, but still have to do it!), prepared for and met with the donor, did some preparation for a Board of Directors meeting, and resolved several questions or issues from staff or volunteers.  And this was a light day!  Sometimes all of those things could happen within a couple of hours!

How I wish I had a magic wand to wave to ensure that we had all the resources we need to do all of the work that needs to be done!

Until then, know that, despite the frustrations and challenges, I wouldn't have it any other way!  I'll write more about the rewards of nonprofit work sometime soon!

Gloria

"Nonprofit-like"

Thanks to that new "time hop" feature on Facebook, I saw what I was thinking and writing about six years ago today...

Seems to me that it still applies...

Social entrepreneurs and being "nonprofit-like"

Our lunchtime keynote address at the Feeding America national conference was delivered by Paul C. Light, Professor of Public Service at New York University.  He is the author of several books about the nonprofit and government sectors of our society.

Professor Light noted that nonprofit organizations make up a significant part of our economy in this country, with over 11 million people employed by nonprofits.  Unfortunately, he estimates that in the current economy, as many as 100,000 nonprofits may go under because in a recession, nonprofit organizations are hurt first and recover last.  He sees four possible futures for nonprofit organizations:

• "Miraculous rescue" -- These are the organizations with magical thinking awaiting the saving donor or contract.  It may happen and they may survive, but there is a good chance they will not.
• Withering -- These are the organizations that batten down the hatches, but slowly whither away because they are not doing anything new or different, just trying to hold on to the way things were.
• Winnowing -- While he believes winnowing will happen, he noted that the problem is that it won't be a deliberate winnowing.  The organizations that fail won't necessarily be the worst and the ones that survive won't necessarily be the best.
• Renewal -- In these times, organizations that make an aggressive recommitment to their missions may well renew and blossom.

These times present an opportunity to nonprofits, but we are often so down on ourselves that we don't talk about it!

In talking about nonprofit leaders as social entrepreneurs, Professor Light asked us why nonprofits so often have poor equipment -- old computers, poor work spaces, and so on.  He said that he thinks that demeans the best workforce in America and we need to honor the talent, passion, and commitment of the people who work in nonprofits by giving them the tools to do their jobs.

I agree 100%!  I have never been willing to accept the common axiom of "good enough for nonprofit work" -- not in the people we hire nor in the tools we give them to get their jobs done.  We have some of the best and brightest, most passionate and hard-working people anywhere!  I need to do my best as their leader to get them the tools to do their jobs in the best and most efficient ways possible.

He also talked about what it really means to be "nonprofit-like."  Sadly, surveys show that the American public has been losing its faith in nonprofits.  "Nonprofit-like" might have a negative connotation for many.

Professor light described "nonprofit-like" as having five traits:

• Laser-like focus on the mission of the organization
• Value added -- the work nonprofits do adds value to each dollar donated
• Innovative and entrepreneurial
• Capacity to succeed -- investing in the infrastructure to allow the organization to do its work efficiently and effectively
• Pride -- non profit organizations should be proud of all they accomplish

He closed his powerful remarks by talking about our power and strength in the world of nonprofits being our faith.  Not religious faith, but faith in the work we do, a belief that we are part of something bigger.  We do have faith in miracles, but we don't expect those miracles to come from the government or a donor, we know that the only place to find miracles is within ourselves.

I could not have said it better, and what a way to close out this conference!

Gloria

If you have interest and time (35 minutes), here's a video of the presentation:

Some reflections on my one month anniversary

Since my first full day at GardenShare was January 5, today is my one month anniversary!

In this first month, I've taken part in meetings of all of the committees of GardenShare, a Board of Directors retreat and regular meeting, participated in our annual Growing Community Social and helped present the Growing Community Award, and met a lot of people who are passionate about GardenShare's mission and work.

It's been tiring and exciting, frustrating and stimulating, overwhelming and filled with positive energy, all at once!

I got to revisit Foodshare last week for my official, public retirement party, and that experience only confirmed for me that I have made the right decision.

While I may have had moments of exhaustion or frustration this past month, I have also been inspired by people's passion for this work.  While I recognize the challenges that GardenShare faces, I see tremendous opportunity and untapped potential.  And while I love the North Country with all my heart, when I look around, I can't help but see the needs in this region.

Thank you for being there with GardenShare.  Thank you for inspiring me with your support.

Together, we are making a difference.  And I look forward to working with you and doing even more in the coming months and years.

Gloria

A retirement party back in Connecticut

On Thursday evening, about 200 people gathered in the Foodshare distribution center for a farewell event.  The food was great, the music was good, the speeches were very touching, and they presented me with a beautiful hand-carved walking stick, a fitting memento of my time at Foodshare.

Best of all, the corporate sponsors, those who attended, and all those who donated raised $130,000 for Foodshare. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved!

And for all my North Country friends...may we have a similarly successful event in 10 or 15 years upon my second retirement from GardenShare!

Gloria

Headed back to Connecticut, but just briefly

I'm headed back to Connecticut this evening, but just for a few days.  Foodshare has planned a "going away" party (now that I'm already gone away!).  When we discussed having this event in January, everyone was worried that I might be snowed in, here in the North Country.  If you've followed the weather news these last few days, instead, it was Connecticut and other parts of New England that got hit with a blizzard!

But no big deal for us hardy North Country stock and so I will be there even if few others make it.

See you back at the GardenShare office on Monday.

Gloria

THE HEAD START DIET

When I was in high school in Gouverneur, I volunteered with the Head Start program during summer vacation.  I loved working with the young children and new it made a difference.  So I was glad to see that this new research says it makes a difference not only with their education, but also with their  diets and health!

Gloria

Head Start programs have been shown to help poor children do better in school, but they may also help them fight obesity, a new study suggests. During a year of Head Start preschool, obese and overweight children were much more likely to slim down than comparison groups of kids. The study involved almost 44,000 children, including about 19,000 Head Start kids who were compared with children from Medicaid families and with those from wealthier, privately insured families. About 16% of kids entering Head Start were obese, versus 12% of Medicaid kids and 7% of the others. After a year, almost 11% of initially obese Head Start kids became normal weight, compared with none of the Medicaid kids and less than 2% of the others. The improvements lasted through the end of the study, or when the kids entered kindergarten. Similar trends were seen in kids who started out overweight but not obese.

Source:  Huffington Post, 1/12/15, Head Start

Saying goodbye to friends and coworkers in Connecticut

It's been a long season of last this and last that for me in Connecticut.  And Friday was my last Foodshare staff holiday party.  I was afraid it would make me cry, but in true Foodshare fashion, they made me laugh until I cried!

To mark my departure from Foodshare, we played a game of Foodshare Feud, with questions about my new home in Canton, NY and my new job at GardenShare. Former Foodshare staffer, Ernie Pitti, joined us as our very nattily dressed MC! Amazingly, though the questions were all about me, the staff won the game!

But I'm the one who received a prize! Unbeknownst to me, the staff at Foodshare had been collecting old t-shirts and memorabilia from past Foodshare events and our own talented Paula turned them into a quilt! A practical gift for someone headed to the North Country in January! They even managed to work in a couple of old logo shirts that had my name embroidered on them!

I will miss this amazing team of people in Hartford, but am also excited about getting to Canton soon and working with all of the amazing people working to further GardenShare's mission of a food secure North Country.

I'll be seeing you all in person soon!

Gloria

Halloween scare

At Foodshare in Connecticut, my place of work for the last 30 years, we have a long tradition of wearing costumes to work on Halloween.  I have taken part in that tradition most years, with the highlight of my costumes definitely being the "Turkey Queen" - evening gown, sash, and tiara.  (Anyone who has been in the Hartford area in November in the last thirty years gets it!)

This year, I showed up at work in my usual cool weather attire, corduroys and a sweater.  But I was indeed in a costume.

At Foodshare, because of the large number of volunteers (4,000 last year!), we all wear nametags that look like this one.

Yesterday, I had on a nametag that looked like this instead.

One Foodshare staffer said it was the scariest costume of the day!

After thirty years, my upcoming transition from Foodshare is scary.  For me, for the people who work at Foodshare, and for many others in this community.  But as the days go by, I am more and more confident in this decision and believe that both organizations - Foodshare and GardenShare - will come out of this transition stronger and making a bigger difference for more people.

Gloria

A little more about Gloria

In my current (and soon to be former) job at Foodshare in Connecticut, we regularly posted profiles of some of the great employees, Board members, and volunteers.  A while back, some of the team challenged me to answer some of the same questions that we ask them.  I thought this might be fun for my new work "family" to learn some of these things, too, so here's one adapted from one that ran on the Foodshare site.  And, at some point, I'll work on profiles of others involved with GardenShare!

Name: Gloria McAdam

Role at Foodshare:  Chief Executive Officer, though I've had various titles, for the last 30 years.

Role at GardenShare:  I will start full-time as the Executive Director at GardenShare on January 5, 2015

What changed the most in your time at Foodshare? The sheer numbers of people – so many more people needing help and so many more employees, volunteers, and donors providing help. When I started at Foodshare in August of 1984, I was the only employee. My day started by picking up a van (we only had a van then, no trucks) and driving to a local halfway house where I would pick up one to three men who were willing to volunteer for the day. Today, we have 62 employees, about 4,000 volunteers, and five trucks, none of which I am allowed to drive! 

What has stayed the same?The passion and dedication of the volunteers, the donors, and the employees. And the vision of creating a community where no one goes hungry.

What motivated you to make this change after 30 years in the same place?  Sometimes, things come together in the right way and the time is just right. I have dreamed of coming home to the North Country for years, but had put the dream on hold in order to avoid disrupting my family.  Now my kids are all grown up and dispersed, as is true with so many families these days.  And the reality at Foodshare is that the organization has gotten so big, that the CEO job really was not what I wanted to do anymore.  So, I look forward to coming home and to being in a small organization where I can be enmeshed in the mission and the program work every day!

If you could trade places with anyone for a week, who would it be? Why?

If I could also time travel, it would be a younger version of myself, so I could go back and fix some of the mistakes I’ve made!

If you could be, or do, anything else – what would it be? It would be something with horses. I grew up with horses and have never lost my love for them, so maybe owning a stable or maybe running a nonprofit that uses horses in therapeutic ways.  Here's a photo of me on Apache at an Arizona dude ranch vacation in February of 2013!

What is your favorite song? I love music even though, unlike the rest of the McAdam family, I have no talent at all! Songs often move me, and a big favorite is Garth Brooks rendition of “We Shall Be Free.”  Church is an important part of my life and my favorite hymns include “How Great Thou Art” and “Here I Am.”    I look forward to being back home and getting to hear "Matune Creek," a local band made up entirely of McAdam's!

Last read  I often have more than one book going at once.  I'm currently in the middle of a memoir called "Medicine Dogs," about how a woman learned from her dogs how to better care for herself.  (Hoping my two big dogs can teach me some similar lessons!)  And, of course, I still read a newspaper in the morning!

If you were a superhero, what would your power be? That’s easy, I’d end hunger, all around the world!

Have more questions you'd like me to answer? Feel free to e-mail them to me and you just might see them here at some point!

Gloria

Growing up in the early years of the Amish arrival

When I was growing up, the Amish were just starting to move into the region.  Some people weren't too sure what to think of these new neighbors.

One day, my dad, who worked for the railroad at the Gouverneur depot, came home all upset.  An Amish family had been stranded in a boxcar with their animals on a siding in DeKalb Junction due to some error on the railroad's part.  They had run out of food and the train crews had been sharing their lunches with them.

While he had helped resolve the situation and get them on their way to their new home near Heuvelton, he wanted to do something more to help.

Since we had about half an acre in garden, he had us pack up a couple of bushel baskets of produce and we set off to find these new arrivals to the North Country.

When we did find them, the scene was chaotic - men and boys getting animals and farm equipment situated, women and girls getting household goods into the house.  We approached with our gifts and one of the women came forward, but she did not speak English.  A young girl of about ten translated for us.

I was about thirteen at the time and the whole thing made me a feel little shy and uncomfortable.  But I watched my dad who was not bothered at all by the chaos or the language barrier as he carried on a lovely conversation with the lady of the house.

Of the many lessons I learned from my dad, that one has stuck with me to this day.  It doesn't matter that someone looks different, dresses different, doesn't speak our language - if there is something they need and I can help, I should and I will.

Gloria

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

Thoughts on St. Lawrence

As I continue my "Season of Lasts" in the world of food banking, I'm at my last Feeding America meeting, but glad I got to come to this one since it's in New Orleans.

I've shared some thoughts with my peers about succession planning and how to help their organizations think through planning for an expected or unexpected leadership change.  I've also been picking the brains of the New York state food bank folks about what's happening in New York to start getting up to speed before I head up to Canton next week.  My biggest shock though was learning that one downstate food bank director doesn't even know where the St. Lawrence River is, much less St. Lawrence County!  (Don't they teach geography any more?  I consider it one of the greatest and most beautiful rivers of the world, right up there with the mighty Mississippi and the Nile, both of which I have also cruised on.  How could you live in New York and have never heard of it?  Okay, end of rant!).

But it's New Orleans, so free time has been spent having some fun and little did I know, as a St. Lawrence University grad, class of 1979, that in New Orleans, St. Lawrence is a bar!

Snapped the photo, but didn't go in, I swear!

Gloria

Coming home!

I'm Gloria McAdam, of the Gouverneur McAdam's, no relation to the cheese people (who spell their name differently, anyway!).

After graduation from Saint Lawrence University in 1979, my job search took me to the Hartford, Connecticut area, where I have been ever since.

But this poster, acquired at the old SLU bookstore back when I was a student, has traveled with me to every building I have worked in since I left Canton in 1979!

Though I've been away for 35 years now, the North Country has always still been home to me and I have often dreamed of returning.

Many factors kept me in Connecticut, including raising a family and a job that I loved for the last 30 years at Foodshare - the regional Feeding America food bank serving the Hartford area.  (You can read more about me and my time at Foodshare here.)

But children grow up - my youngest recently turned 21!  And sometimes, the time is right to move on, even from a job you love!

I'm so excited to be coming home to the North Country to become the Executive Director of GardenShare.  How often in life does a person get to take all you have learned over 30 years and bring it home to make a difference for people and a place that you still care deeply about?

I feel blessed and grateful to have this opportunity and although I won't be joining you full time in St. Lawrence County until January, I will be doing some transition work in the coming weeks and am looking forward to meeting so many of you who care about GardenShare's mission!

Feel free to be in touch... gloria@gardenshare.org

Gloria