By Linda Carter
Tuesday was a day of pure energy. There was a definite uptick in the work in the kitchen (way too many eggs to sort); around the tables with greens, corn, apples, strawberries; damaged fruits going in to chunky applesauce and strawberry-banana smoothies thanks to Caroline of Downtown Greens. Don personally shucked nine crates of corn so that the off color husks didn’t stop shoppers from taking them. Tom was happy to show people that the purple marks on the carrots was caused by storage in plastic, but did not damage the carrot at all. We had new shoppers from as far away as Tappahannock and Ruther Glen. Carey asked for volunteers to reach out to some of our regulars who are suffering from terrible family losses and major health issues – a Table One Body Team.
We are blessed with volunteers. Sometimes it seems like we have more than enough, but we will find a place for you. We are still looking for gleaners to slot in to a weekly schedule. If you have 2 hours in the middle of the day M/T/W/F, let me know. We are working on setting up a monthly schedule so that gleaning rotates among a lot of people. The Table will be sending representatives to a Stafford Schools fair on Nov. 12 to talk to students about how they can volunteer in their communities. We love working with students of all ages and showing them the good that comes from helping others. Rivermont should be back with us shortly.
The Table buzzed all day long. Slightly cooler, less humid weather? Excitement of the Pope’s visit? Rushing to the holidays? The number of shoppers we see each week continues to hold at a higher level. We are thankful for a new grant of $12,500 from the Honeywell Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation. It is needed to sustain The Table going forward. Along with grants, we continue to look for other ways to get healthy foods to The Table each week. Take time to breathe this week and enjoy the beautiful weather we have been given.
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