VESTRY OF DURHAM PARISH aka JOE'S PLACE, A Community Food Pantry

HOW JOE’S PLACE GOT STARTED

      As Joe was leaving the church one Sunday he was approached by Millie Hamman and asked if he would consider helping them establish a food pantry at Old Durham Church.    At that time Joe was relatively new at Old Durham so he put her off with a gentle reply such as, “No, I just want to relax and worship.”    Joe had known Millie prior to coming to Old Durham and he knew that she was a caring individual that thought a lot about the difficulties that plagued those less fortunate and who needed help with some of the basic needs of life such as food.   She didn’t push it and let him go on his way without anything more said.

    Joe couldn’t get it off his mind so one day without telling anyone, even his young bride, Rebecca, he got in his car and spent considerable time traversing the back roads of the wider rural area of Nanjemoy.   Rather than getting into the experiences of the day we will just say that what Joe saw opened his eyes to the need in the area.   The homes that didn’t have electricity or running water delivered a message to him.

    Later he told Millie, “Yes there is without a doubt a need that should be fulfilled.   Millie just gave him one of her quiet smiles as if to say, I knew you would.   From there Joe went about investigating the logistics of what is needed to bring things together.    In July of 2006 Joe’s Place opened its doors and warmly welcomed the needy of the community to come in and collect enough food to take home to feed their family.

  The Vestry named the food pantry JOE’S PLACE.    Joe has felt all along and still does, that Joe’s Place should have been named MILLIE’S DREAM

 

THIS IS ONE OF JOE’S FAVORITE STORIES HE LIKES TO TELL

     In the beginning I was thinking of a number of things to get the ball rolling.   Here is one I especially liked.    We had a basket in the back of the church for people to put a can of food in when they entered.    When the collection plate was carried forward I would pick up the basket and carry it down the aisle behind the ushers.    I wanted to make a greater impact on the parishioners than that.   What could I do?    While standing in my back yard thinking about it, my eyes fell on my well used wheelbarrow.   That’s it.   I cleaned the wheelbarrow up, painted it blue and put a decal of the American Flag and the Episcopal shield on each side.   The next Sunday I took the wheelbarrow and several boxes of food to church with me.    When the ushers went down the aisle with the collection, there I was right behind them pushing the wheelbarrow loaded with food.    Parishioners were twisting around and craning their necks to see what Joe was up to.    After Reverend MacDonald blessed the food and permitted me to speak, I explained that the food in the wheelbarrow came from the Southern Maryland Food Bank and I had obtained it for only 18 cents per pound.   I went on to say, “Now consider that cost compared to what you would pay at the supermarket, if you want more bang for your bucks, write Joe’s Place a check for $10.00 and I will get you about $70.00 worth of food for it.”    After that the cans placed in the basket went down but the checks placed in the collection plate went up, which gave us much more food to help the needy.

   Oh yes, as word is passed around facts tend to get altered somewhat.    Rev. MacDonald was asked by someone at the National Cathedral “is it true that your collection is such that your ushers have to use a wheelbarrow?”