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Food is ‘tip of the iceberg’
  
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By Michele Sample
Editor’s note: This is the second article in a two-part series on the need of assistance for food, shelter and other services for the residents of Douglas County.
As the faces of need in Douglas County are changing, so is the face of organizations meant to help them.
Non-profit organizations, food banks, task force entities and faith-based support agencies are increasing not only the amount of volunteers on and off-site, they are also increasing hours of operation for their clients.
“They look just like you and I,” Pearson added. “Not your typical image of the working poor that we have helped for so many years.”
Each non-profit has a different mode of operation, but the consensus remains similar throughout; the effort to preserve dignity and the sense of self-worth for the individual. This aspect of help is becoming more vital as more and more people are seeking help for the first time.
One of the organizations that embraces this message, from the time the client walks into the building, to the time they are helped out with a grocery cart full of fresh produce and meat for their family is the Parker Task Force Food Bank.
The feeling of comfort and caring fills the hallways. From the stuffed animal, a brown bear, hanging from a cubicle in the office, used in case someone becomes upset and needs to hug it, to a plaque on the wall that reads, “If you want to see a miracle, be a miracle.”
The Parker Task Force Food Bank runs like a fine-tuned machine. An all-volunteer operated machine. No salaries, no benefits, no corporate jets, just 100 percent volunteer operated. According to Clark Hastings, executive director and board co-chair, “Every community needs a Parker Task Force.”
On an average day, the volunteer workforce is approximately 18 people who try to serve 25 families with their food necessities.
This time of year, depending on the day, the volunteer base number ramps up to 25 individuals. On a monthly food drive day at the local grocery stores, it could be well into the hundreds of volunteers.
Although food is the number one aid the task force offers, the interviewers, who meet with the clients up front, can offer assistance in many other areas or at least lead them into the right direction.
The task force is considered an “entry-based agency,” and this step is crucial for a client to gain a referral to another support agency for things like medical assistance or foreclosure counseling .
“We have a great relationship with the utilities,” Hastings said. “If you come in, and your water has been shut off, we can make a phone call and have it back on before you get home.”
One extremely ‘warm and fuzzy’ food acceptance piece of the task force in Parker that is different from others is their Little Country Store.
The client is able to go through the facility and choose foods that are both suited for their individual families, but also allows them the feeling of being in control of the situation.
Lined shelves, not unlike what you would find in a farmers market setting or a small town corner grocery store, is what sets this food bank apart. Bright colored signs identify what is located on the shelves, from canned vegetables rows, cereals, and even what is on “special” that day.
Jan Hastings, who is married to Clark, has been a volunteer for over nine years said if a person shops smart, they can walk away with 10 days of food.
“A ‘special’ could be three cans of green beans, for one point,” Pam said. The client is allowed 20 points per person, per visit. A family of four would be allowed 80 points for one visit.
Fresh produce and frozen meats, along with perishable items; milk, cheese and butter are offered to the client, to provide healthier, balanced meals.
Hastings said that 81 percent of the families seeking help come for eight visits or less. The trick is getting people to come before there is a risk to losing the roof over their heads. They can still help, Hastings said, but it becomes much more complicated.
“If you wait to the point of eviction,” Hastings said, “we can rewind, but it is so much more work.”
“We have a lot of volunteers who are younger, or just with us for a week or two,” Hastings said. “So we put numbers on the freezers to make it easy to follow, when someone is filling a food order.”
Jim Chincholl, who has been volunteering with the task force for nine years and has many nicknames, from Radar O’Reilly from the television show, MASH, to Gruber, the confident, scheming guy-who-can get-things shipmate on McHales Navy.
“He can get anything,” Hastings said.
“Just about,” Chincholl added.
Chincholl is in charge of harvesting, a term used for the negotiations of donations between the task force and a variety of outside sources, such as King Sooper’s, Sams Club, and Costco, to name a few.
Seven days a week, Chincholl has a volunteer pool of 20 drivers, who are available to pick up food donations from the businesses, with a simple phone call. The donations are stored at the task force, and due to a change in USDA requirements in the last two years, a lot of food now is donated, and not just tossed out.
“From frozen meat, to palettes of pretzels; I’ve got guys using their own vehicles, no gas reimbursement, ready to help out,” Chincholl said.
Recently, “boxes and boxes” of candy were picked up from one of the stores, and because they had been used in a Halloween display at the front of the store, were going to be disposed of.
From the initial one-on-one contact with the client to the assistance in the country store, to the employment board postings, Hastings said the major part of volunteering at the task force is making an immediate impact on a person’s life.
“They come through the door, thinking their world is ending, and when they leave, they have hope,” he added.
A majority of the clients the task force works with are not eligible for some of the state assisted programs, such as LEAP, Low Income Energy Program. To qualify for assistance for that program a family of four, would have an income of $3,400 gross salary, per month, or $40,800 per year.
Hastings said to basically “get by” in this county, an average income would be $64,000 for a family of four.
“And that’s not spending money on extra movie channels,” he added.
Hastings said some of “the guys” at the task force “fight” about who gets to help the families out with their shopping cart, because that is the best part of the job.
“There is a lot of hugging and tears going on,” Clark said.
Douglas County non-profit food assistance organizations:
Parker Task Force Food Bank,
20118 East Main Street, Unit D, Parker
Cherry Hills Community Church,3900 Grace Blvd, Highlands Ranch
Douglas/Elbert Task Force, 404 A Jerry Street, Castle Rock
Southeast Community Outreach/Food Bank, 9650 Jordan Road, Parker
fishes and Loaves Food Bank/Jubilee Fellowship Church, 9830 Lone Tree Pkwy, Lone Tree-Food Bank due to begin January 2010
Inter-Faith Community Services/Food Bank, 3370 S. Irving St., Englewood
As the faces of need in Douglas County are changing, so is the face of organizations meant to help them.
Non-profit organizations, food banks, task force entities and faith-based support agencies are increasing not only the amount of volunteers on and off-site, they are also increasing hours of operation for their clients.
“They look just like you and I,” Pearson added. “Not your typical image of the working poor that we have helped for so many years.”
Each non-profit has a different mode of operation, but the consensus remains similar throughout; the effort to preserve dignity and the sense of self-worth for the individual. This aspect of help is becoming more vital as more and more people are seeking help for the first time.
One of the organizations that embraces this message, from the time the client walks into the building, to the time they are helped out with a grocery cart full of fresh produce and meat for their family is the Parker Task Force Food Bank.
The feeling of comfort and caring fills the hallways. From the stuffed animal, a brown bear, hanging from a cubicle in the office, used in case someone becomes upset and needs to hug it, to a plaque on the wall that reads, “If you want to see a miracle, be a miracle.”
The Parker Task Force Food Bank runs like a fine-tuned machine. An all-volunteer operated machine. No salaries, no benefits, no corporate jets, just 100 percent volunteer operated. According to Clark Hastings, executive director and board co-chair, “Every community needs a Parker Task Force.”
On an average day, the volunteer workforce is approximately 18 people who try to serve 25 families with their food necessities.
This time of year, depending on the day, the volunteer base number ramps up to 25 individuals. On a monthly food drive day at the local grocery stores, it could be well into the hundreds of volunteers.
Although food is the number one aid the task force offers, the interviewers, who meet with the clients up front, can offer assistance in many other areas or at least lead them into the right direction.
The task force is considered an “entry-based agency,” and this step is crucial for a client to gain a referral to another support agency for things like medical assistance or foreclosure counseling .
“We have a great relationship with the utilities,” Hastings said. “If you come in, and your water has been shut off, we can make a phone call and have it back on before you get home.”
One extremely ‘warm and fuzzy’ food acceptance piece of the task force in Parker that is different from others is their Little Country Store.
The client is able to go through the facility and choose foods that are both suited for their individual families, but also allows them the feeling of being in control of the situation.
Lined shelves, not unlike what you would find in a farmers market setting or a small town corner grocery store, is what sets this food bank apart. Bright colored signs identify what is located on the shelves, from canned vegetables rows, cereals, and even what is on “special” that day.
Jan Hastings, who is married to Clark, has been a volunteer for over nine years said if a person shops smart, they can walk away with 10 days of food.
“A ‘special’ could be three cans of green beans, for one point,” Pam said. The client is allowed 20 points per person, per visit. A family of four would be allowed 80 points for one visit.
Fresh produce and frozen meats, along with perishable items; milk, cheese and butter are offered to the client, to provide healthier, balanced meals.
Hastings said that 81 percent of the families seeking help come for eight visits or less. The trick is getting people to come before there is a risk to losing the roof over their heads. They can still help, Hastings said, but it becomes much more complicated.
“If you wait to the point of eviction,” Hastings said, “we can rewind, but it is so much more work.”
“We have a lot of volunteers who are younger, or just with us for a week or two,” Hastings said. “So we put numbers on the freezers to make it easy to follow, when someone is filling a food order.”
Jim Chincholl, who has been volunteering with the task force for nine years and has many nicknames, from Radar O’Reilly from the television show, MASH, to Gruber, the confident, scheming guy-who-can get-things shipmate on McHales Navy.
“He can get anything,” Hastings said.
“Just about,” Chincholl added.
Chincholl is in charge of harvesting, a term used for the negotiations of donations between the task force and a variety of outside sources, such as King Sooper’s, Sams Club, and Costco, to name a few.
Seven days a week, Chincholl has a volunteer pool of 20 drivers, who are available to pick up food donations from the businesses, with a simple phone call. The donations are stored at the task force, and due to a change in USDA requirements in the last two years, a lot of food now is donated, and not just tossed out.
“From frozen meat, to palettes of pretzels; I’ve got guys using their own vehicles, no gas reimbursement, ready to help out,” Chincholl said.
Recently, “boxes and boxes” of candy were picked up from one of the stores, and because they had been used in a Halloween display at the front of the store, were going to be disposed of.
From the initial one-on-one contact with the client to the assistance in the country store, to the employment board postings, Hastings said the major part of volunteering at the task force is making an immediate impact on a person’s life.
“They come through the door, thinking their world is ending, and when they leave, they have hope,” he added.
A majority of the clients the task force works with are not eligible for some of the state assisted programs, such as LEAP, Low Income Energy Program. To qualify for assistance for that program a family of four, would have an income of $3,400 gross salary, per month, or $40,800 per year.
Hastings said to basically “get by” in this county, an average income would be $64,000 for a family of four.
“And that’s not spending money on extra movie channels,” he added.
Hastings said some of “the guys” at the task force “fight” about who gets to help the families out with their shopping cart, because that is the best part of the job.
“There is a lot of hugging and tears going on,” Clark said.
Douglas County non-profit food assistance organizations:
Parker Task Force Food Bank,
20118 East Main Street, Unit D, Parker
Cherry Hills Community Church,3900 Grace Blvd, Highlands Ranch
Douglas/Elbert Task Force, 404 A Jerry Street, Castle Rock
Southeast Community Outreach/Food Bank, 9650 Jordan Road, Parker
fishes and Loaves Food Bank/Jubilee Fellowship Church, 9830 Lone Tree Pkwy, Lone Tree-Food Bank due to begin January 2010
Inter-Faith Community Services/Food Bank, 3370 S. Irving St., Englewood
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