I worked the NEEDS front desk for many years. Each church represented on the Board was responsible for finding volunteers from their church, helping with pantry duties, and filling the pantry with fresh items. It was my church’s turn and I was serving as a pantry volunteer.
A wonderful young man came in. He had walked from the bus stop a few blocks away and he needed food. My fellow-volunteer knew that we could not give him all the food he needed because there was no way he could carry all the food with him onto the bus.
We took a gamble. She had a cell phone which she gave me and I kept it on while I walked the man and his boxes and bags of food to my car to drive him home. She called her cell phone from the NEEDS phone line and kept the line open in case I was a fool and needed help!
Would you do this today? Probably not.
This young man turned out to be a wonderful husband and father. He eventually became a friend too!
Sometimes trusting and taking a gamble (with a helpful cell phone) is what NEEDS volunteers do!
Faithful volunteers line up to sort, pack and distribute school items to at least 16 schools
August 12, 2019 found more than 20 faithful NEEDS volunteers gathered at 8 a.m. to unpack, sort, repack and deliver school supplies to the Deer Park, Sycamore, Princeton and Madeira school districts.
The annual event provides basic school supplies i.e. binders, backpacks, pencils, pens and crayons to students in those districts. Approximately 16 schools are reached.
The items are collected from the participating churches in the NEEDS (North East Distribution Services) organization which is housed in Kenwood Baptist Church.
Loyal Deer Park school district residents came out to help with the drive. Chris Huster (left) worked for 32 years in the Deer Park District and is now on the school board. Masha Huster (10 years old) and Jeff Pfohl (right), also on the school board, came out to lend a hand. NEEDS Board President Ann Barfels sorts piles of donated school supplies.
We had an elderly gentleman come to the food pantry for the first time. He was nicely dressed, so nicely dressed, in fact, I thought he had come to the food pantry to donate food rather than because he needed help.
He was very proud that he had never needed this kind of help before, but an emergency had happened and his family needed help. We registered him and packed the food for his family.
When he saw all the food being wheeled out on the cart for him, you could see the tears welling up in his eyes. It was all he could do to keep the tears under control. He was EXTREMELY grateful!
NEEDS food pantry is open Tuesday and Thursdays from 9 am- 1 pm at the lower level of Kenwood Baptist Church, 8341 Kenwood Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45236.
