It seems to me that in most cities of any size in my home state of, collectively, Minnesconsin, the means are in place where adequate food should be available to all residents — between food shelves, produce giveaways, church free dinners and the like.
Notice I said residents, as you usually will have to show some sort of ID or home address information that proves that you live in a school district or county. It is often the faith-based groups that use an honor system, and probably invite all comers anyway. But that didn’t help a woman with her situation that I’ll describe below.
In the breakout news item a bit below that, I’ll tell you how you can help.
And there are other barriers you might not see as readily, not just residency. You have to find way to get to the host site, and while there are many people, users and volunteers alike, who would give you a lift, few know just who the people are who are without transportation. Some volunteer leaders tell me they feel badly that in such a way the service might not be more fully used, and have even tried to ferret this out, but there is no good way in place. And such potential users might be too bashful to call and hitch a ride. Or I might add, especially if they are of simple means, drop the ball for arranging repeat trips. (Various agencies of local and county government could help out).
Also, the working poor often have more than one job, or work longer hours than usual, so they are frozen out of places that only operate during set hours — as often only in the business day — and that’s almost all. They too might be moonlighting and working late and can’t get to a church dinner, for example. Even that often extra bit of fellowship at such offerings can be a boost, especially at this time of year, as the volunteers are very keenly aware of the spiritual also being an earnest need for people.
— And we didn’t forget about the ugly sweaters and such for holiday contests, as you only have a week left, or could be seen as days less. But for starters, there is a Way Out With Justin Barts, and more musically, in the form of a customer appreciation party, in that near term and starting early. And then almost a week later, on the 23rd, is more with the official Christmas party. See the outfits maybe not fit for non-bar with some bad, good old boys at the Wild Badger, again on the 17th as a beginner. I will clear up this wintery mess of music in Picks Of The Week. As its all good. And largely the same … —
And of you are in the halftime of your shopping, the second season I’m to know, still check out the Vikings game at Ziggy’s today, hosted by Hudson’s one and only Dave Dahl, taking time away from his recently burdensome weather reports and the past Dibbo’s band excursions to offer you specials at one of the area’s only Viking friendly bars.
— So to get it straight, from above, at the Wild Badger its their 11th annual customer appreciation party on the 17th and the Christmas party on the 23rd. But there’s something in-between in the haus, (note the spelling), as I’m trying to keep up with my former colleague and now kinda competitor, the Star-Observer, with the one and only thing they do well as far as entertainment coverage. And I have to hand it to them, they are all over this one. (Is the reporter and editor, and they are one an the same, with the band?) That group is the popish and popular Yam Haus, and they’ve specialized in community-based concerts, knowing their roots, and is this how the HSO knows them? Thusly, they are putting on a holiday concert at the Hudson High School auditorium, on Sunday, the 18th, at 6 p.m. to benefit the battle against community hunger via the school backpack program, and yes empty stomachs even exist in Hudson. (For more on how you can help, see the rest of this post). But if you’ve already maxed out your holiday shopping budget … the concert cost is $20 and free for those under 12 (beneficiaries?) —
So it turns out I was a grinch twice. and Santa once. Here is how a couple of my experiences have gone with reaching out farther than usual to provide food, showing the delicate balances that make small cracks become bigger, and show how people can fall through them.
A young woman with a couple of children to look after, one very young, was separated earlier in 2022 from her husband or significant other, I don’t know the circumstances as I didn’t ask and she didn’t tell, and on her own had made her way from Central America to the Target parking lot in Hudson. She had a sign written on cardboard asking for help. I said I was not in a position to do anything monetarily, but that via the beauty of the local food shelf, I had some extra grub I could give her, just not on me. I took her first name and phone contact information and said I would make arrangements to get back to her with it, this same spot, different day. She told me when it was that she usually could be found at that location by the curb, but the times were slim and did not match well with anything I could make. So it was agreed I would call first.
That’s where things got difficult. Her accent was thick and meant the conveyance of time and day was difficult. That was also why I did not know much of her personal story, although I would have listened. I did catch that she knew only a few people in this country and that status brought her to Hudson, only to find out the assistance that was promised had dissolved. What else I got out of the call a time or two was that her car was broken down and she could not make it back to her dedicated space. So could I get an address and mail as much lightweight food as I found room for in a box?
The bottom line is that when I thought I had things arranged, the call revealed that she had made it to Florida, but not any more detail. So all I was able to do was wish her well.
I felt a little down about the idea that we were not able to make this work. And language difficulties. She could just as well fault me for not knowing Spanish, not even more than a few words beyond hello. How would I fair in parts of her home country?
A similar downfall of luck under largely similar circumstances, this time across to the south side of the freeway, with the parking lot being Denny’s. The woman again had little problem giving me her phone number but was not as good at answering it. By the time, this one the third, I made my way back, she had up and left her station. Her husband had found a job, she had told me at our initial foray back before they were abundant, so maybe their ship had come in, its oars better than the other woman’s car for reliability. The workers at Denny’s — I asked to see if I could salvage the situation — had noticed that after a couple of weeks of a fairly regular stint, she was no longer coming around. We all shared a bit of concern. I joked, badly, that I could leave the foodstuffs with them, and if she never showed again, hey they are a restaurant?!?
This last time the ending experience was more joyful. But it did give me a little advise to offer. The bus back to the home stomping grounds in Milwaukee had its usual lunch break in Tomah, and a man down on his dollars asked if I could buy him a burger. I said no but … Just new to getting EBT, I told him I’d buy dinner for him if the cost was kept in check. (I know you’re not supposed to, but it was Christmastime). Just make sure its not … uh oh. The burger and such was not covered, as it is warmly prepared, and I didn’t notice this as I was trying to be discreet for him. I suppose I could have nixed the transaction, but no bah humbug on this day. I was out $8.11 but I knew at home there would be a stocking stuffer to cover. So Merry Christmas!
So now we are going back into EBT territory. Especially with the odd blessing bestowed by the pandemic, low income people in Wisconsin and at least some other states, are getting much more loaded onto their cards in each month, but this is one-time and then another-time and it will eventually go the way of the passenger pigeon.
Which gives you an opportunity to do a Santa-like delivery, especially a lot of the offerings described above that would violate social distancing requirements have been curtailed — maybe more or less permanently. And EBT has a middle zone of income where only a partial number of dollars are extended.
That may be doable in a city, but what if you live out in the sticks, such as the northern areas of Minnesconsin, and there are no discount grocers anywhere near. And you have to travel to get to even a mom-and-pop store with their usual higher prices. One almost thinks that EBT could be on a sliding scale based in part on zip code, but even that would be problematic as far as recipients that — again — would fall through the cracks and the added layer of bureaucracy.
So how to help? Especially if you are traveling for the holiday? Bridge the gap by delivering some food to a — how should I say this — alternate zip code, far or not so far. And maybe not limit yourself to a food shelf there, as they in general are better stocked than the cupboards of the people they serve, as it is rare for most shelfs to actually run out, in large part because of drives that are run maybe even this time of year, if there is a relative shortage. Depending on the days you are on the road, and because so many places are closed right on a holiday — but wait there can be exceptions! — it might take a bit of time to reach out and make arrangements at the other end, whether the end run be directly or indirectly benefitted. But how about a church, or old colleague or distant relative, or maybe even local diner or bar.
Would not your bounty bring bliss to both you and them?