We’ve all heard it: prices are going up! Inflationary pressures are pushing the prices of most things up these days: fuel, rents, electricity, childcare, school supplies, groceries. But what isn’t going up to keep pace is wages. Therefore, many people are left with less money in their wallets and at the end of the month need to make some tough decisions. Sometimes one of the first things to go is healthy foods like produce and protein, which can of course become an unhealthy downward cycle.

Fortunately, we also live in a very caring and generous community, where people and organizations come together to make a difference. My goal in today’s article is to make you aware of a few initiatives where you can get involved to help out. These would include “Pop- up /Mobile Food Pantries,” “United Way Gleaning Day of Caring,” and local periodic food drives. Each of these represents a hands-on volunteering opportunity in which you can take part and help your fellow neighbor in need!

Pop-up/Mobile Food Pantries — Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United Way, in concert with the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter and the YMCA, have collaborated to run a program of “Pop-Up/Mobile Food Pantries.” These are sponsored by St. Joseph Hospital (we are very grateful for that support!) and are open daily for business. As of this writing, since April 2020, these pantries have served over 21,000 local individuals and families. The system is very simple and highly effective. Each day, either a United Way of a YMCA volunteer goes to the Nashua Soup Kitchen and picks up produce which has been sourced from the NH Food Bank. The food is then brought out to one of currently 15 locations in the community. At each location, which is open for an hour or two, people from the community can walk up and get foods they need that are available. There are no questions asked and nothing to qualify. The system is barrier free. Just come and get it! At the locations, there are typically two United Way volunteers who hand out the produce, and when the time is up, anything left over is brought back to NSKS for their pantry, so there is also minimal waste. How can you support this initiative? Of course, you could make a donation to United Way to help defray some of the costs and you can volunteer with us to be one of our pantry volunteers. It’s a pretty light lift and a great way to engage directly with members of the community. Starting in the beginning of November, we will be moving our daily pantries indoors, but still 5 days per week, which will continue until the spring. Each location has been chosen because it is in a highly populous neighborhood with mixed income levels and only limited access to grocery stores or other food resources. The locations aren’t where they are by accident… it’s by design.

Gleaning Day of Caring – As they say, sometimes the best ideas are the oldest ones. Gleaning is just such an idea. Gleaning can be found in the Old Testament and refers to harvesting a set aside portion of food for the poor. In Leviticus, the dictate is threefold: First, the farmers were to leave the margins of their grain fields unharvested. The width of this margin appears to be up to the owner to decide. Second, they were not to pick up whatever produce fell to the ground. This would apply when a harvester grasped a bundle of stalks and cut them with the sickle, as well as when grapes fell from a cluster just cut from the vine. Third, they were to harvest their vineyards just once, presumably taking only the ripe grapes so as to leave the later ripening ones for their poor and the immigrants living among them. Well, at our Gleaning Day of Caring, we are doing a more modern version of this practice whereby volunteers will be harvesting a set aside portion of produce at a local farm and then brining in the harvest by transporting it to several local food pantries. This is a very tangible way in which you can help to make a difference in food security with your own two hands. We are very grateful for our partners in this project, the Hillsborough County Gleaners (https://www.facebook.com/HillsboroughCountyGleaners/) as well as our farming partner Kimball Fruit Farm. If you want to sign up, you can do so at www.volunteergreaternashua.org or send my colleague Sara and email at info@unitedwaynashua.org Oh yeah, when is the event? Coming up soon … Oct. 25 at 9 a.m.!

Regular Food Drives – Each month for the past year, United Way has hosted food drives at Hannafords the first and third Saturday of the month. Starting next month, we will be looking to add Shaws the second and fourth Saturday of the month. Additionally, once a month we hold a feminine products drive and are looking to increase that to twice per month. All of the items we get donated at these drives (and it is a lot!) are distributed the following week to local food pantries throughout Greater Nashua, including several in-house pantries like at St. Joseph Hospital and Nashua Community College. The best way to help out would be to volunteer with us at one of these drives. Typically, each drive requires 2-4 individuals and takes about fourhours total. It’s a fun way to give back and you can talk with lots of friends and neighbors about giving back. With us ramping up these drives going into the fall and winter months, we will need many more volunteers. I can tell you that our local food pantries really appreciate the additional supplies of non-perishable items for their shelves and none of them like the idea of running out.

As I said, times might be tough, but we are a resilient and caring community which pulls together and works to make sure that none of us falls through the cracks. You can easily get involved in one of the ways I’ve mentioned in this article and join us in sharing our mantra that GREAT THINGS HAPPEN WHEN WE LIVE UNITED!

Mike Apfelberg is president of United Way of Greater Nashua.

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