By Vanessa Hulse
Staff Writer
The Olean Food Pantry, supplied by the Food Bank of Western New York, is the main location in Olean that members of the community who are in need can go to get food for the month.
Unlike the Warming House, the Olean Food Pantry supplies food for those who have certain qualifications. The facility mainly runs with the help of community volunteers.
Ollie Kirkendall, an Olean retiree, is a frequent volunteer of the Olean Food Pantry and has been volunteering there for about six years. For him, volunteering is a great way to spend some time out of the house. Kirkendall mentions that, “the people you meet are very nice people, even though they are on the poverty line. They try their hardest to work for their family and provide for their family and the pantry is one way to do that.”
Before volunteering at the Olean Food Pantry, Kirkendall had a typical mindset on those who live in poverty, he says he remembers thinking “if they’re in poverty, they can go out and work and prove themselves.” But now he realizes that, “there’s cases where you just can’t do that, depending on how many children you have, your family situation” and other factors.
Jason Coon, like Kirkendall, volunteers to help fill up some of his free time and help people in the process. The main thing he has noticed that is different in his life after volunteering there is the open mind he has gained through the experience. For him, it has helped him “keep an open mind about things [he] might not be aware of.”
He encourages other to get involved and suggests that, like him, people keep an open mind about the impoverished. “There is certainly a stigma that comes along with poverty, and I think there could be a lot more awareness, things that could be done to maybe lessen that stigma a bit.” Coon believes that just getting involved and volunteering, even if it is simply a neighbor, can help raise this awareness.
Yet another volunteer at the Olean Food Pantry is John Styles who has been volunteering for around 12 years. He suggests that people start to not only notice those in poverty more, but to make an effort to help them as well.
“Don’t just hold your head and turn it the other way if someone asks you to volunteer,” he said.
At the Olean Food Pantry as well as many other places that help those in poverty, there is always something to do, “so much has to be done throughout the day” and as was mentioned, the Olean Food Pantry mainly runs on volunteers so the more the better.
In terms of what the larger community can do besides volunteering, he suggests that there should be a change in the way food management is handled. “The government I think could help a little bit more, to make things more abundant for them because we waste so much food. Some of the stuff that we waste could be used by these poor families.”
For anyone wishing to get more involved at the Olean Food Pantry they can be contacted at oleanfoodpantry@yahoo.com or 716-372-4989.
hulseva13@bonaventure.edu
