Neighbors helping neighbors
I volunteer in at the Neighborhood House main office on Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, MI, registering new clients for our food pantry and clothes closet. Last week I spent time at the actual food pantry, located at the First Congregational Church in Rochester. I was so impressed after experiencing the day to day operation of helping our clients.
The pantry supplies about 5,000 pounds of food a week to needy families.
The original food pantry in 1968 was squeezed in this under-the-stairs church closet. 
This is just one aisle of the space we have now!
About 45 volunteers staff the pantry. Our hours are M-Th. 11:30 – 2:30 and Saturdays from 12:30-2:00. Neighborhood House clients must register first at our main office, and then they may shop once a month up to six times a year per family. Food orders are customized to meet specific dietary health needs and enough food is supplied to last 10 to 14 days.
Our clients can visit us every Thursday at 12:30 for Bonus Days when we offer oodles of perishables. Deb, the pantry manager, tells me people often line up outside for bonus days.
Gleaners and many generous local grocers help keep the pantry stocked. Trader Joe’s brings overstock goods to us three days a week. Deb says Trader Joe’s is a “Godsend. Or a Goddess-send, if you’re so inclined.” Panera and Einstein Bagels donate baked goods a couple days a week. We also have an annual food drive with the USPS workers that supplies us with about 40,000 pounds worth of food!
After clients sign in, they cruise the aisles with a volunteer and a shopping cart to fill up their bags. We have everything from rice, cereal and soups to fresh milk, eggs and meats, and personal items such as shampoo, razors and toothpaste. We even stock cat and dog food.
When clients finish shopping, we weigh their cart and record the total poundage of food for our records.
Every week The Assistance League puts together meal kits for every client who visits us. These bags contain the ingredients to make a complete meal with a recipe. It’s a way for some of our clients to try cooking something new. Deb tells me the women from the league love doing this.
The handwritten notes and thank-yous, like the one from Maddy, are the best part of what we do.
For more information on the Neighborhood House nonprofit, please visit the website at https://www.ranh.org/. We serve the communities of Auburn Hills, Leonard, Oakland Township, Rochester and Rochester Hills.
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is the author of the award-winning novel In the Context of Love, a story about one woman’s need to tell her truth without shame. Discovering who you want to be isn’t easy when you can’t leave the past behind.
2017 New Apple Book Awards Official Selection
2016 Sarton Women’s Fiction Finalist
2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist
2016 Readers’ Favorite Finalist
2016 USA Book News Best Book Finalist
“…at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey.” ~ Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed Once Upon a River,and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters
“With tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.” ~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller, Deep End of the Ocean
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