The Meet Hope Podcast

96: "We'd Love to Have You." (Part 2) Stories of HOPE's Food Pantry with Dave Falcone

HOPE Church

Join in for the second of two episodes where Dave Falcone, Executive Pastor and now HOPE Food Pantry Director, shares stories of local businesses, volunteers, and organizations that make the pantry a cornerstone of community support. This episode shines a light on the collaborative spirit and dynamic volunteer engagement that keep the pantry thriving. We had so much great information to share and stories to tell, we decided to make this episode into two! Be sure to listen to last week's episode for part 1 before jumping into this one!

NOTES:
- Part 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2065910/episodes/15862376
- email Dave at dave@meethope.org.
- get connected to the pantry at meethope.org/foodpantry.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Meet Hope podcast, where we have conversations about faith and hope. Hope is one church made of people living out their faith through two expressions in person and online. We believe a hybrid faith experience can lead to a growing influence in our community and our world for the sake of others. Welcome to Hope our world for the sake of others.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Hope. Hey everyone, Welcome to the Meat Hope Podcast. My name is Ashley Black and I'm your host again today, and I'm excited to continue this conversation with Dave Falcone. Hi, Dave.

Speaker 3:

Hey, we're back.

Speaker 2:

We're back. We realized last week that you just had so many wonderful stories about the food pantry, and also we had some other fun updates that we wanted to share. That we realized as we were talking. Hey, maybe we should split this into two episodes so that we can say all we want to say.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we're going to do that now. Well, you should have known better when you brought a long-winded person onto a podcast.

Speaker 2:

I, like, did know better and I just assumed we would edit it. And then the more you talked, the more I was like I really think our listeners in our community deserve to hear all this. So we're going to share part two. So here we go. Do you have any specific examples of where you've been like, oh that's God right there. Yeah, I mean sure you have tons.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean specifically. I had a conversation with a woman a few about a month or two ago yeah, a couple months ago, sometime in the summer and she was just sharing that at a really tough point in her life when she didn't know what to do, and she kind of stumbled onto the food pantry and just by coming and picking up food it changed things for her. It provided a little bit of hope, which you know, go figure, hope Church providing hope. Her exact words to me were. It provided me hope when I felt like there was none, and this food pantry saved my life. Now, I don't think that the food we physically gave her was the difference between life and death. Did it help Absolutely. But it was more than just the food.

Speaker 3:

It was the hope that we were providing to help her get through another day, to not have to think about where's my next meal gonna come from because we provided something to help her get through another day, um, to not have to think about where's my next meal going to come from, because we provided something to help, um. We don't provide food to feed everybody every minute of every day, uh, but we provide food to help help lighten the burden. You know really, um, and you know so that was. That was one of the things that she shared, and you know it. Just, I felt that in my heart.

Speaker 2:

I can imagine it's also a very isolating experience, like it can feel like, like if if it becomes something that you are struggling with in the moment, it's not just that now you're worried about food, but also maybe you're afraid to talk to anybody about it or you're worried people will look at you differently, and so to be able to come and also like connect with people in that moment, I think I would hope that that would be also very encouraging, and just not to go through that alone.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Well, yeah that's, that's my thing. Uh, the reality is too like if, um, if you're worried about eating, well, that's, that's really only a product of what's going on. So, you know, maybe you lost your job, maybe you're looking for a job, maybe you know, uh, you had a crisis and you know it, just ate away at every dollar you had.

Speaker 3:

And so, by helping provide some food, it gives somebody the ability, the mental capacity to think about what can I do to resolve the situation or to take a step to helping provide you know, provide whatever is needed. During that time there was another I'll share another story and this was back. It was really in the heart of the pandemic.

Speaker 3:

We had received these boxes produce boxes and it had dairy and produce and whatnot, and so we were giving them out, with all of the other non-perishable foods and proteins and things like that, to families. And there was this one family, that this one couple, that came and they picked it up and through some conversation we found out that they had a neighbor that was desperately in need of help as well, and so, out of the kindness of their heart, they were taking what we were giving them and giving half of it to their neighbor.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And we were like well, just send your neighbor over here and they're like, you know, they're just too like, too embarrassed. There was just a lot going on behind the scenes that you know I can't really share on here, but bottom line is, they couldn't get here, they couldn't come, and we're like all right, well, how about we just send you with double?

Speaker 2:

Like they're sending yours yeah.

Speaker 3:

And we knew this couple so it wasn't like they were making this story up yeah of

Speaker 2:

course.

Speaker 3:

And the woman just broke down crying. She's like you would do that. We're like, yeah, would do that, like, yeah, you know we're trying to give you right like, of course, to help you, but if you're giving half of it away, it's not really helping you, you know? Yeah, um, but just the, it was that pass it on mentality that how can I help somebody else? Because somebody's helping me yeah um, and that same person, um, has been somebody we have utilized to help um help help others yeah in many situations.

Speaker 3:

So, yeah, those are just two small stories.

Speaker 2:

It sounds like you learn different things every day from the people that you get to serve and volunteer with. Oh yeah, yeah, is there anything that you're like? Oh, the food pantry has taught me this. How long have you been?

Speaker 3:

in this role Not not long. Yeah, it's like the beginning of June, I know it's like still pretty recent.

Speaker 2:

What has anything been anything new, like for you.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean. So I I did get to. I have been involved in the food pantry for a number of years with.

Speaker 1:

Erica and with.

Speaker 3:

Scott and whatnot, but, yeah, the food pantry for a number of years, working with Erica and with Scott and whatnot. But, um, yeah, I, I think that you know. One of the things that I'm reminded is it's a lesson that you learn when you're a child. You know, don't judge a book by the cover, you know, um, I had a conversation with a woman who came pulling into the parking lot on a Wednesday afternoon when we were, you know, uh, we were getting ready to do our big distribution. Our parking lot was full of patrons sitting in their cars waiting, and this woman in a minivan came flying into the parking lot and she was angry, yeah, and um, I just happened to be over there at the moment, which it worked out great Cause I got to engage her in conversation and she said, said, how dare you serve some of these people?

Speaker 3:

And I was like all right, so my, my the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I thought she was going to go towards the idea of race or, you know, faith or something you know just and I'm like I'm, I'm not going to engage this woman if she thinks that we can only serve one demographic.

Speaker 3:

But she went in a completely different direction. She said look at some of their cars. And I was like, oh, all right, she's going in that direction. And she said they don't need help, they're driving around really expensive cars. And so I kind of put my hand up and I said I'm going to stop you right there. It's like you don't know any of those people. You don't know if yesterday they lost their job, they're upside down in debt with their vehicle and with their home. You know, we don't know what their situation is. So before we go judging them because of the vehicle they drive a decision they may or may not regret you know when they purchased that vehicle.

Speaker 2:

You're not sitting there with a checklist of like oh you have this kind of car, oh you have this kind of job, or you don't. You know, you're not presuming, yeah.

Speaker 3:

People in need aren't always standing on a street corner holding up cardboard in dirty clothes like an unshaven face. That isn't the only people that are in need. And um, and I told the woman. I said I am sure that if you look through everybody in this line, that there are some people that are here taking advantage of the system. I'm sure of it. I said, however, there are a lot of people in this line that we are the difference between life and death for them. And I said and I know that for a fact with some conversations I've had and I said it makes all the world of difference in my mind that we help those people and put up with the 10, 12, 15 families that are just taking advantage of the system.

Speaker 3:

If there was a way I could stop that, I would, but it's not worth sacrificing the good that we're doing with everybody else yeah, and you do.

Speaker 2:

It's a hope that deep down, even if even if someone is choosing to show up with the wrong intentions, that you never know how five, ten years from now that might make an impact in their life that, hey, I wasn't making the best decisions and these people still cared for me, because it's not our job to necessarily tell them what to do. We're just trying to care for them.

Speaker 3:

And the reality is you really don't know what people are going through Exactly. There's a great scene in the Ted Lasso show so, for those that haven't seen it, pastor Rick referenced it in his message. He referenced it in October. But there's a great scene where one of the soccer players jumps into the stands and beats a guy up and after the game, after the match, one of the coaches being interviewed about it and he said look, he shares a personal story and then goes into the idea of you never know what somebody's going through in the moment, he said but even though I don't condone his actions, I choose to show him love in this situation and he went on to say it's like you really don't know what

Speaker 3:

may be going on deep down inside in some of the people you're closest to. What may be going on deep down inside and some of the people you're closest to, Like I know, for me, when I was young and I want to say like when I was like four or five years old, somewhere in that range we were one of these families and I didn't know it at the time, I was four or five years old and it wasn't until years later my parents had shared with me, like you know, my dad's business wasn't doing well. He was trying to start his business. He was, you know. I found out that he was living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for about three months. He would eat one sandwich a day and it was all that we could afford. We had a family and neighbors that would randomly bring by McDonald's back when.

Speaker 3:

McDonald's was cheap and good and drop it off for me, or people would bring by casseroles and things like that. Like we had a community of people around us that helped out. And like you know, I I'm sure we were on the verge of losing the house. Uh, you know, not being able to pay some bills Like it was bad, um, but you know we managed to get through it with help, um, with people who chose to show us love. But if you would have looked at us, you would have like, well, your dad has a nice truck. Well, yeah, it's his work truck.

Speaker 3:

He needs it for work. You have a nice house. Well, it's because my dad keeps up with the house. My mom, takes care of the house, but you would have no idea that we're on the verge of losing everything Right, you know. But you would have no idea that you know we're on the verge of losing everything Right. And you know, by by people helping, it made all the world of difference, and you know so.

Speaker 2:

For me, interacting with some people in the line, you know, I see some people that are probably going through the same thing I was as a kid, um, and then fast forward a number of years.

Speaker 3:

I was, um, I was a junior senior in high school. I remember I had my license and my brother was in middle school at the time. And uh, my mom said, hey, um, you know, uh, we had a great year financially and, um, we're going to gonna help somebody this christmas, um, these are two short stories, by the way. I have rarely shared with people.

Speaker 3:

I don't, you know, I don't share these stories, um, and this story, you know, is, is very personal to me, so I'm this is the first time I'm openly sharing this um, and, and I hesitate sharing it because it's something we did, and I don't want people to think like, oh, you know, you know, so righteous of you, you know it's something we did. And I don't want people to think like, oh, you know, you know, so righteous of you, you know, it's like you know. Um, for a long time I never shared this with anybody because it was so personal to me. But, um, my mom said we're going to do something nice for somebody this Christmas and so, uh, she gave me her credit card. Um, it might've been a checkbook back then, but you know, she gave me it might've been cash, I don't know.

Speaker 3:

She gave me money and she said take your brother to the store. There was this young woman at church. She was like she would have been college age, except she had like a one-year-old or two-year-old son was, you know, living at home. You know her parents, you know her family wasn't very well off but you know she was just trying to make it. You know was a single mom. I don't know if dad was in the picture or not, but just like we had heard from our pastor at the time, because my mom had said is there anybody we can help? And he knew right away this person. And it was somebody I knew because I was a senior in high school, so it was only somebody who was a few years older than me. And so she said all right, you're going to go buy gifts for the kid, gifts for the mom.

Speaker 3:

All right, you're going to go buy gifts for the kid, gifts for the mom and things. It was things like diapers and wipes and clothes for the baby. Like that's gifts for the mom and I. I remember my brother and I went to the store and we. We filled up a shopping cart with stuff and in the moment we're like, all right, this is cool, we got you know we're having fun and um you know we try to be as thoughtful as we could, as a bunch of teenage boys could.

Speaker 3:

And um, so we bought the items, we took it home, we wrapped them, we put them in bags. Uh, you know, one of my parents dropped off the church. Um, to this day that family I'm sure has no idea that it was us. But that was it right. And a couple weeks go by and the pastor had given my parents a letter from the mom and I wish I can't tell you how much this means to me and just kind of poured her life onto these pages and I just remember being like I didn't do anything.

Speaker 2:

I just bought some stuff.

Speaker 3:

The weight of what you did sunk in and the impact that it had and and what, uh, what it did for that family. You know Um.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean you, you helped her feel, seen, when she probably felt like she couldn't keep her head above water, or you know. Yeah. And just simple things like diapers and wipes yeah you know I'm a parent now, man, you understand right yeah, we like yep, that's our whole life right now, so I yeah yeah anytime, anytime anyone is like we want diapers, we're like, yes, please, and we pass them on to friends, friends, when they grow them, like you know, the um so the need for that.

Speaker 3:

So those two life experiences for me have really made the food pantry personal yeah I've seen it on both ends yeah, I've been, I've been blessed to receive the help and I've been blessed to give the help. Um and uh, so I I'm seeing that uh happening, uh, as as we're going through what we do down there.

Speaker 2:

No, I think that that's awesome, that because of those, like, we all have personal experiences that then allow us to, you know, do our jobs better, or because of them, or you know, just um, I think it's really cool when God does that. So thank you for sharing those personal stories with us.

Speaker 2:

Really cool when God does that. So thank you for sharing those personal stories with us. So, coming up in every year, the food pantry typically does something around the holidays. We usually talk about it in church. We run like here's the things you can give to the food pantry, but this year you're going to be doing something a little bit different. I'm really excited about it. I was wondering if you could talk about what the food pantry is doing for Thanksgiving this year?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so let me, let me preface this as you know, you don't have to wait till Thanksgiving to drop off food. Yes, that is very important.

Speaker 2:

That is very important. We we highlight it during those times of year because it it helps kind of promote the food pantry the rest of the year. But you can always give to the food pantry.

Speaker 3:

Yes, yeah, we have the vestibule down at the meeting place, the corner of Centennial and Cooper. That vestibule is open 24 seven. People can drop non-perishable goods off in there at any time. There are a number of people, especially our online folks, that worship with us online that don't live anywhere near here, can go to our Amazon wishlist and order food to be mailed. Really, you can do it through Walmart.

Speaker 3:

You know, just you know, whatever, you know the kind of things that people need you know, like we always need and um uh ramen and diapers and and uh cereal and um uh feminine pads. That's always a big, uh, big need. Um uh vegetables, uh fruit, you, you name it like anything that comes in a can we give it out I mean it comes in a package, we give it out.

Speaker 3:

Think about the things that you use on a daily basis rice, boxed potatoes, things like that. That can kind of go a long way. So we collect things year-round but coming up to Thanksgiving we try to make Thanksgiving happen for families. We have a great relationship with the South Jersey Food Bank. I've mentioned them a number of times and we are blessed to continue to work with them. The South Jersey Food Bank gives us a number of turkeys. We're waiting to see how many they'll give us.

Speaker 2:

I know that's a debate every year.

Speaker 3:

It always is, and really it's no fault to them. It's just a matter of how many are they going to get and how many are requested by all their agencies that they work with, and their goal is to meet the need and give out as much as possible. They are amazing Like. If you ever, ever are in Pensauken, stop by, ask for a tour volunteer there. They're amazing people there. Everybody I have spoken with and work with they're phenomenal. Everybody I have spoken with and worked with they're phenomenal.

Speaker 3:

So we're hoping to get most of our turkeys from them. But we're looking for hey, you got your free turkey at ShopRite. You want to donate it? Drop it off. We're going to start a collection on October 27th, which is a Sunday, for two weeks. For two weeks, so between the 27th and the 10th, we we're going to have, uh, two freezers in the lobby. I think this is so cool. I, I, it was one of those ideas I threw out there and, uh, I think this would be cool, but no one's going to buy this. And you were like that's a great idea Like I don't know.

Speaker 3:

I think it's really cool to be able to bring it in and put it right in the freezer in the lobby, like well, especially when every year somebody drops off a freezer and puts it on the info desk yes, sometime on saturday, you or somebody and then we see on sunday morning yeah, yes, and it has leaked everywhere.

Speaker 2:

I have been a part of many staff conversations of hey, does anybody know what to do with this turkey? And it's well intended-intended and it's just the timing is not great yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we're going to be collecting turkeys, that'll be one thing, but also we will have a cardboard boxes with a list stapled to them, available starting that Sunday, okay, and the list will be items that you can purchase to provide a Thanksgiving meal for people you know, not including the turkey, right. So it really is. It's an opportunity for people or couples or families to go and shop for one other family and kind of that story I was sharing about Christmas helping that young woman and her son. It's the same idea is you take a box. The list of all the items are right there on the side of the box. You purchase the items, you fill the box, you bring the box back and you leave it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And then we give that box to a family.

Speaker 3:

Right, we're not going to go through it and sort it, you know just sort it and and just you know, uh, we're going to hand that box to a family, so you will have an opportunity as an individual or a couple or a family, to um provide a Thanksgiving meal for somebody, and, um, you know there are lots of ways to do this, but we thought it would be a great, um, uh, great opportunity for someone, or someone's um to to engage in being a part of making I mean as a mom of young kids.

Speaker 2:

I love it because it's such an easy visual to show my five four year old skinny four year old like he will love filling the box and then be able to have the box as an example of how this is how we take care of people or how we serve people. I'm excited about it.

Speaker 3:

I think it's great. I'm excited too. My kids are coming with me to the store.

Speaker 2:

And I also think it's a great opportunity. Like you said, you can serve the food pantry all of the time. I know that some people maybe run into the mental block of like I don't know where to start. I don't know where to start. I don't know what to give. It kind of helps you start or gives you some more definition around what you can give, if that's something that you're stressed about.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and I like this better than just telling people hey, we're going to provide Thanksgiving for people, so if you'd like to donate some money towards that, this is hands-on. It's practical. Yeah Right, you know, like this is it's hands-on.

Speaker 2:

It's practical, yeah, you know.

Speaker 3:

If people want to donate money, we're happy to receive the funds and that'll go towards the food pantry and you can do that at meethopeorg slash give. But honestly, I you know and I may get in trouble for saying this, but I'm the executive pastor, you know I oversee the finances anyway here.

Speaker 2:

So I won't tell the guy yeah I would rather you, as a family, do this yeah for the experience I was just going to send 20 into cover box I think it does something in us when we use our bodies, like our hands and feet, to serve, like it. I think it does something to our hearts when we physically do the act of serving.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know yeah, and if you are, uh, listening online and you're an online worshiper and you're out of town those two weeks or you're not around or you live far away and you'd like to participate in this, we're going to have an online list through like Amazon shopping or something like that.

Speaker 2:

But it'll be available online. It'll be a way for you to do that too.

Speaker 3:

So you can purchase all the items and mail them in in an amazon box and we'll take the items out of that box and put them in one of the other boxes and give it out and so you can participate in that as well.

Speaker 2:

Um, because, let's be honest, online shopping is just as uh effective as doing it in the store it really is, and it's like I know for like, like, for people in my family, like my mom, like that's her favorite way to be able to like. How can I help Because of different needs that she has, but she's happy to be like. Tell me what your list is, so I love that. That's an option too. All this has been awesome. Is there anything else that you want people to know about the food pantry right now?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so we're looking at ways to partner with people. Yeah, so we're looking at ways to partner with people as much as possible. So there's some, like you had mentioned, people like your mom out there who are let me know how I can help, let me know how I can give.

Speaker 2:

And.

Speaker 3:

I'm happy to do that. There are some people like hey, just tell me when to show up and where, and I'm there. And there are lots of people in between. Hey, just tell me when to show up and where, and I'm there, and there are lots of people in between. So if you're listening and you're like, you know what I want to provide hope for somebody. I want to make a difference. Reach out to me, email me. Dave at meethopeorg that's dave at meethopeorg, and I'd love to help get you connected into the food pantry. We're looking at ways to partner with ministries and staff. Here at Hope, we're planning on doing something with our family ministry around Christmas time to provide hygiene boxes for all the families. But maybe you want to volunteer as well. Uh, we would love to have you. We have many different areas and roles we're looking to fill.

Speaker 3:

We we always are. We're looking for some people to help pick up items for our retail rescue partners throughout the week. Like you know, we're looking for uh, specifically people that maybe you have a large SUV or a pickup truck and once a month you would like to be our dollar general person and you know we're trying to build up a team of people to do that. We have a number of people that do Costco and BJ's and shop right every week and they have small SUVs and it's enough to get the job done. Maybe you want to jump in and help once in a while with that or be a sub with that we have with that.

Speaker 3:

Bottom line is if you want to do any of those, we would love to have you. If you'd be interested once a week to run to Wawa and pick up their leftover sandwiches and bring them to the food pantry, put them in some bags and toss them into the freezer, we would love to have you for that. If you want to come volunteer for an hour or two during the week going through the Best Buy dates on items, stocking shelves and repackaging goods, we'd love to have you for that. If you'd like to join us on a Wednesday to hand out food or help direct traffic in the parking lot. We would love to have you for that. If you're interested in coming on a Tuesday night to pack food in bags that we give out the next day, we'd love to have you for that. We have a team of people that pack produce in produce bags to give out every week. Whatever produce we get.

Speaker 3:

This week it was carrots and onions and peppers and cucumbers and potatoes. If you want to come and just pack produce because that fills your heart, we would love to have you for that. If there is something that I didn't mention that you think I have this gift and I want to use it to help.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

We would love to have you for that.

Speaker 2:

I love that, that there are like literally there are so many possible ways to serve through the pantry. I know like the most visible way that most people see if they're in and out of the Hope parking lot is on when we have distribution days on Wednesdays, but that there's so much that goes into that and happens not on Wednesdays. And so if you fall into the trap of thinking like, well, I'm not free during that time on Wednesdays, that's okay. There's so much else that can be done.

Speaker 3:

We have every other week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have about seven different people who make deliveries for us.

Speaker 1:

We have a group of shut-ins people who they don't have transportation and they can't leave the house for whatever reason.

Speaker 3:

And so we have probably about 50 to 60 people we deliver food to. So maybe maybe you want to do that and you get an opportunity to meet people and talk with them or just drop off food too.

Speaker 2:

That's fine, right, which is okay too, yeah.

Speaker 3:

But we would love you to help with that if you want to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love all of this. Thank you so much for sharing about this new role for you and also for what's going on with the pantry and how there are so many ways for people to get involved and help be the hands and feet of Jesus and make a difference. And I really love how many times you said we would love to have you, because I feel like that almost feels like the theme of this whole episode, like if you are in need of food support, we would love to have you and help you, and if you were looking to serve, we would love to have you serve. So thank you for sharing all of that.

Speaker 3:

Definitely Bottom line is we're community people helping community people.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I love that.

Speaker 3:

I share with our volunteers all the time. I mean we are a ministry of the church and so there is some faith aspect here. We are the literal hands and feet of Jesus. And we are practically sharing the love of Jesus by helping people in need, because that's what he did.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly that's awesome. Well, thank you, Dave. Thanks for giving us some of your time today. I'm sure you've got lots to do with the food pantry.

Speaker 3:

Heading down there now.

Speaker 2:

Thank you All right For all of you that are listening. Thank you so much for being a part of the Meat Hope podcast. If you have any questions about the food pantry or would like to volunteer, you can email Dave at daveatmeathopeorg. We will put his email in the show notes. You can also find more about the food pantry at meethopeorg. Slash food pantry and so until next time.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening. Thanks for being a part of the Hope Community as we continue our conversations about faith and hope. If you don't already, please join us for worship on Sundays or on demand. You can learn more at meethopeorg or find us on socials at meethopechurch.