September Bulletin Ref2

Shop, Sort, Clean, Stock

No one who has spent this summer in the Capital Region needs to be reminded about the weather.  Rain, heat, wind and then some glorious days filled with sunshine, clear blue skies and little to no humidity.  The aforementioned was not the day we chose.  It was hot and rain was, once again, expected.  But people need to eat and we had the funds, so off we traveled to Hannaford on Colvin Avenue in Albany to spend $225.  Tote bags and gift cards in hand, up and down the aisles, adding the prices to calculate how much we had spent and what hadn’t been added to the cart from the list.  Bravo!  We came in ever so close.

Back to B’nai Sholom to sort, separate, bag and reload into the car, and off we journeyed to locate the three fridges we were asked to fill.  Then came the cleaning.  We were not going to place our precious groceries in anything but clean and organized spaces.

And then it happened.  One of the refrigerators was warm.  We followed the cord to its extension cord and all looked intact. What to do?  It was, as mentioned, a very hot day.  A lovely passerby shared that she had a working fridge to donate.  To where have you vanished, nice woman? We filled it hoping the few people who had been watching us would help themselves and hopefully tell others on the block that the food had been replenished.  A quick text to Jamella Anderson, who guides the operation of Free Food Fridges Albany (and Schenectady and Troy) to inform her of the problem, and then to our last location.

Hours had passed since the morning when we two had met up at B’nai Sholom.  The project takes time.  Ask anyone who has been fortunate enough to have participated in the shop, sort, clean and fill, they will tell you.  Is it worth the effort?  The question does not even merit asking because we know how important healthy food choices are for everyone.  Do we wish we could fulfill this mitzvah more often?  We can’t, but if you feel that you can add a few fresh fruit, vegetable or dairy items to a Free Food Fridge, we ask that you consider doing so.  Just please put the produce in the film bags found in your grocery store’s produce section and divide fresh produce into portions.

If you are unfamiliar with where these refrigerators are located, here are the addresses:

8 Elm St., Albany (The Free School)

245 Lark St., Albany (In Our Own Voices)

488 Broadway, Albany (Albany Center Gallery)

153 Grand St., Albany (Radix Ecological Sustainability Center)

56 2nd St., Albany (Albany Barn)

100 Watervliet Ave., Albany (Honest Weight Food Coop)

621 River St., Troy (Collar Works)

49 Fehr Ave., Schenectady (Fehr Avenue Farm)

913 Albany St., Schenectady (Schenectady Community Action program)

We thank you for all you have done to make this work possible and ask you to please continue to purchase additional Hannaford cards and donate them to our Free Food Fridge/Fresh Food for Families fund. Our sacred writings tell us “to feed the hungry.” (By the way, the rain held off!)