This Wednesday my social justice group joined Margaret’s 6th grade advisory to go to St. John’s food pantry to help out and to speak with a volunteer about our project. They have been serving more people than ever and needed the extra hands. Other than helping our goal was to talk to Joe Spickett, the director, or someone who works there. I got to speak to sister Mary, a volunteer, and she told me lots about the food pantry and how it works. She talked about how more and more people are signing up because of the cut in food stamps. They have had more people than ever before and funding is essential. I feel like we were a really good match because she expressed the misconception of what types of people go to soup kitchens and this was really what I wanted to focus on. I asked her about doing personal narratives of some of the pole who are regulars and she’s already asked someone of they were comfortable for me to interview them about their experience. She is free for an interview on the 10th and 11th of December. I really want to portray how these people could have jobs and be completely healthy, but be in a position where they can’t make ends meet. There is a misconception that people who get food stamps and eat at soup kitchens are irresponsible, inadequate, and lazy, but really, with the instability of this economy, you could lose your job, then loose everything you have. In order to get food at St. John’s you have to have an address so none of the people who get food there are actually homeless. If whomever I interview is comfortable to be taped on my camera, I want to make a mini documentary of their stories and show the spectrum of people in poverty. We will go to a series of soup kitchens and food pantries to get as many different stories as possible. She gave us lots of really useful information and is a great resource.
