The Partial Observer by Maureen Murray

Nine Volunteers, Nine Hours at the CFP

Anthony, the Friday morning Price Chopper-pick-up-volunteer, arrived at the Price Chopper in Cooperstown a bit before 8:30 a.m. He walked into the “back of the house” to a cold room, where he located the cart with “fresh recovery” items ready for him to bundle into his car and bring to the Cooperstown Food Pantry. Like Anthony, Carol did the same at the Grand Union in Hyde Park, and Daryl likewise at the Price Chopper in Richfield Springs.

What’s “fresh recovery”? Grocery stores have protocols that limit how long particular food items can remain on their shelves. When that time is up, the perfectly safe and edible items would be sent to the dump. However, through a formal program run by the Regional Food Bank in Latham, grocery stores, at the corporate level, allow local employees to be trained and products past their shelf time limit to be donated to food pantries. Instead of being thrown in the trash and ending up in a dump, these fine looking and still nutritious foods are available to guests who come to the food pantry.

In these boxes, making their way to the Cooperstown Food Pantry in the Village of Cooperstown, are 10-50 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, deli meats and cheeses, yogurts, bread, and lots more. This ritual happens every day of the week.

Arriving around 9 a.m., an hour before the pantry opens, Franny, the fresh recovery processing volunteer this Friday, has arrived and accepts the boxes from Anthony, Carol, and Daryl. Each box is categorized and weighed. The weights are reported back to each store for their own data and CFP reports these pounds of food as available for our neighbors who visit the pantry, and saved from the trash.

In 2023, 120,000 pounds of fresh recovery items were put to beneficial use at the food pantry. This food is offered to pantry guests along with the food ordered from the Regional Food Bank.

Franny goes through the boxes and packages as needed, roots out squashed berries, strips off abundant cauliflower leaves, and puts the produce away in the refrigerators or on the shelves. The “deselected” material is deposited in compost buckets and set aside to be picked up and fed to animals. (The CFP tries very hard not to waste a thing.)

Dee Varney, operations manager, and Will Kleffner, pantry executive director, are on hand to check in and help out as needed.

At 10 a.m., Louise, George and Vicki enter to begin their shift. The “Open” sign is turned on and the phone lines light up as CFP clients phone in orders. Louise picks up one line; George, the other line. “Good morning. This is the Cooperstown Food Pantry. How may I help you?” Each volunteer “checks” the client in on an iPad and confirms the number of individuals in the household. Then the volunteer goes down the list of shelf-stable items and fresh produce from recovery and local farms, toiletry items, and meats, and checks the box if the phoning-in client desires the item. A time for the pickup, which suits the client, is settled.

If the pickup is soon, Vicki begins to collect all the items selected by the client on a cart in boxes and bags. When off the phone, one of the other volunteers assists. Food and items are distributed based on numbers of individuals in the household and provide for three meals a day for five days. The cart is completed and pushed out to the patio when the client arrives for the pickup. “Hello, Mr. Jones or Ms. Smith, here is your order.”

A knock on the door announces another guest who is welcomed and helped to place an in-person order and given a time at which it will be ready.

The morning crew continues to fill orders as they come in from the clients calling in or coming to the door. They will restock the shelves as needed and when time allows.

At 1 p.m., the afternoon shift arrives. The morning volunteers “sign off” with an update about orders prepped and pending, supplies, etc. The new set of volunteers, Elly, Joe, and Bridget, continue the same routines as the morning, finding the time to wipe down the carts and re-organize the refrigerators with guidance labels about what to use first. They might also break down unneeded boxes for recycling, saving the sturdy ones for packing clients’ orders, or update the produce and bakery list on the tablet.

At 4 p.m., the afternoon volunteers turn off room lights and refrigerator lights (saves kilowatts), check doors, turn off the open sign, and lock up.

“Good night, food pantry!”

Volunteering to pick up or process fresh recovery items or preparing orders for food pantry guests are only some of many kinds of tasks that support the CFP. Contact Dee Varney at subcfp@gmail.com or (607) 547-8902 to discuss a volunteer job that suits your interests and schedule. The pantry is open six days a week. To donate, visit cooperstownfoodpantry.org.

Maureen Murray is a member of the Cooperstown Food Pantry Board of Directors.