Answering the call at Foodbank

November 26, 2008

By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff - Published: November 26, 2008

BARRE – Until a few years ago, Patrick Gilbert never gave much thought to what people did when they ran out of money for food. He thinks about it now, because he works at the Vermont Foodbank. Although his earlier life seemed a random walk, Gilbert believes its twists and turns were necessary – and that they led him to where he was meant to be.

Gilbert, who calls himself "a local boy," grew up in Graniteville in the hills above downtown Barre. After he graduated from Williamstown High School, he took a full-time position at Central Vermont Hospital, first washing dishes, then making sandwiches and working in the cafeteria and eventually working as a supervisor in the nutrition services department.

"I really enjoyed what I was doing," he said, but after 13 years and a management change, he left, thinking, "I don't want to work in food any more. I want to do something else.

"I didn't have a plan," Gilbert said. While he was at the hospital and earning a comfortable income, he had bought a house. A year later he found himself working at two minimum-wage retail jobs with no benefits to pay the mortgage and make ends meet.

"You've got this much money, and how are you going to pay all those bills and feed yourself at the same time?" he asked. "I was fortunate in that I didn't have children – it's much harder for folks that have the responsibility of children." Meanwhile, he started taking courses at Community College of Vermont, hoping to retool himself for an office job.

"One of the things about doing a retail-type job is you just get to know everybody in the community," Gilbert said. "They're coming in to buy coffee. They're coming in to buy lunch, and you talk with them." His weekday job at the D & D Smokehouse Deli was just down the road from the previous site of the Vermont Foodbank, and he got to know the employees whose lunches he rang up.

He asked about their work, and when he had to write a profile of a nonprofit agency for a course he was taking, he chose the Vermont Foodbank.

He could have used some help during what he calls the "crazy" times, but he never went to a food shelf. "I'm just lucky. I'm pretty good at making a meal from almost anything," he said, and he had emotional support from a large family and encouragement from friends.

Eventually, he found a job in Montpelier with The Snell Group and improved his computer skills. "They were great to me," he said, but the entry-level job lacked challenge. Then one day on his lunch break, he opened a newspaper and saw an ad for a development assistant at the Vermont Foodbank.

"I wasn't even clear with myself yet that I was looking for another job. I was quite happy to be in Montpelier," said. The food bank had moved into new space in Wilson Industrial Park, so he told himself he'd go for an interview "and check out the building."

The interview process included a tour of the food bank's 19,000 square foot warehouse with its 100,000 pounds of food.

"When you walk through that warehouse and see what's out there, and what they do and how it all works, it's very affecting – just the enormity of it," Gilbert said. "Once I walked through this building, it just felt like this was where I was supposed to be. It just felt right. You know – life is short; do something good while you're here."

Gilbert, now in his early 40s, has been at the food bank for seven years, much of the time working at the front desk where, in his role of development assistant, he logs donations into the computer. More recently, he has added the title of volunteer coordinator.

The Vermont Foodbank's mission is not to provide direct services; it collects and distributes food to a network of 270 local agencies that give out the food. But sometimes people don't understand the distinction, and they come to the food bank for help. When they do, Gilbert's is the first face they see.

"Having spent so much time at that desk and in this lobby, and having seen the faces of the people that come through the door asking for help, that's very powerful," he says. "Its hard – it's very, very hard for folks.

"That period of time I spent working at the minimum wage jobs, I wouldn't trade that experience," he declares. "I learned some things about myself, and I grew from that experience. I think I have a better understanding of people who walk through this door, not to make judgments about them."

He is amazed that while he thought he didn't want to work with food again, he has ended up at the food bank. "It's kind of coming full circle," he says.

The circling has brought him to work that is more than a paycheck.

"It doesn't mean you can't have frustrating, awful days like anybody else, where you go, 'What am I doing here?'" he says. "I can answer that question. I know what I'm doing here. Maybe you can leave at the end and be frustrated and tired, but you can also look back and say, 'I made a difference.'"

The Vermont Foodbank's Holiday Wish List

The Vermont Foodbank urges you to support your local food shelf. The items below are always in demand.

• Canned Meat- Beef, Pork, Chicken, etc.

• Canned Fish- Tuna, Salmon, Sardines, etc.

• Canned Vegetables- All Varieties

• Canned Fruit- All Varieties

• Canned Soups and Chili

• Cereal- All Varieties

• Peanut Butter

• Beverages & Snacks

• Boxed Meals- Macaroni and Cheese, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, etc.

• Pasta & Spaghetti Sauce- All Varieties

• Diapers-All Sizes

Please avoid:

• Baby Food- For safety concerns, we are prohibited from distributing donated baby food.

• Cleaning Products & Other Chemicals- They could spill and contaminate other food.

• All perishable food items and food that needs to be refrigerated or frozen.Somebody got a meal today.'"

To find a food shelf near you, visit www.vtfoodbank

November 26, 2008

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