How a community responds to a need

The Groton Food Pantry’s (GFP) third annual Reverse Advent Calendar project kicked off at the end of November, with the deadline set for Dec. 16. The project involves an individual, family, business, classroom or other group partnering with the GFP to add daily food items to a box for a family in need and then bringing their filled boxes to the GFP for volunteers to prepare them for pickup by the box recipients Dec. 17.

On Dec. 7, 10 days out from that deadline, GFP Coordinator Jessamine Stone had only 20 boxes prepared compared to the 150 boxes requested by families. Based on her experience from the previous two years, that was not a good place to be at that point of the project.

“I really began to worry about possibly canceling or how would I decide who to give them to if I couldn’t fulfill all 150?” Stone said. “Would I have to put together some sort of lottery system or try to determine who had the greatest need? Not decisions I wanted to have to make.”

In years past, Stone would have been able to supplement the costs of the program using the GFP’s budget. In fact, she was able to add additional items in past years such as nice cuts of meat and extra holiday goodies.

“With the way the world has been going lately, my GFP budget is not as healthy as it used to be,” Stone said. “It’s not for lack of a generous community, but the need is greater for those needing food than the ability of folks to contribute.”

Nonetheless, on Dec. 12, Stone put a plea out on Facebook in several Groton groups to let the community know of the need “because this community shows up when they are asked.”

Stone clearly had that proven to her, because within 48 hours, Groton indeed showed up.

“It was incredibly exciting to see the full need would be met with minimal input from the pantry budget but even more exciting to see some of the ways it happened,” Stone said.

Stone spoke about how “a group of people who usually get items from the pantry banded together to contribute what they could to build one box” and also about Tyke Randall, who responded to her on Facebook to ask how many boxes she was still short.

At that point, although response from others had brought the count up, Stone still lacked numerous items needed to finish off the last 45 boxes.

“While I was prepared to try to obtain the items with GFP funds, I just didn’t know where I would get them all locally,” Stone said. “Tyke and his wife, Phyllis, made trips all day long getting those items from local stores in both Cortland and Ithaca. They got 45 each of Pop-Tarts, snack crackers, granola bars, six-packs of ramen noodles, instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, bread, gallons of milk and 180 cans of pasta!”

Many will remember Tyke as a long-time carpentry teacher at TST BOCES, but he started Continuity Construction Services Inc. as a Groton-based, family-owned business a number of years ago when he left the teaching profession.

Tyke said that he, Phyllis, their son, Logan, and daughter, Aimee, are “truly blessed to be able to call the Groton community our home.”

“We realized a long time ago that a community cannot exist without residents who care and share,” he said. “We all contribute to the community by sharing. Our good and bad times, our children and our lives too belong to the collective group — to the community.”

When asked what motivated him to help so much at this time, Tyke said he knows what it’s like to be in need.

“Our family once struggled to provide the basic necessities for our growing family,” he said. “We depended on the food provided to us through pantries like the Groton Food Providers to meet those needs until we could get back on our feet. We didn’t have much to give in return except for our willingness to volunteer our family’s time to care for others in the community who were in the same position we were. We never forgot what the Groton community, the Groton Assembly of God, our friends and our neighbors did for us without hesitation. We went through this experience knowing that our struggles would eventually end and we could share our talents with the community that cared.”

Stone said it was “such a blessing to have such a response from the community despite what so many are going through and very cool for new pantry workers who have only been with me part of the year — six months or less — to see how people still came through even though they had already given so much for Thanksgiving boxes.”

“Many shared they only had a Thanksgiving because of the pantry and look so forward to the Christmas box,” Stone said. “Having kids home from school and eating three times a day, instead of once when they are in school getting meals, is very taxing on families.”

Stone added how grateful she is that “the heart of the community is still there even when we get distracted by things we disagree on.”

Going forward into 2022, Stone would like everyone to know that donations are always welcome any time of the year. She hopes to be able to provide Easter boxes for families, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas, offer household goods and personal items more regularly and possibly expand services to communities surrounding Groton.

Some staple items always needed are pasta sauces, canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter and cereal. To make monetary donations more convenient, the GFP has added Venmo — @GROTONFOOD-PROVIDERS — and PayPal — grotonfoodproviders18@gmail.com.

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.  

In brief: 
 
Santa at Scottland Lights 

Santa Claus will be at Scottland Lights, 411 Peru Rd., handing out candy canes Dec. 24 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Santa is also willing to pose for pictures.

For those who may not have had a chance to experience the incredible Scottland Lights show, it will run daily through Jan. 6 beginning at 5 p.m. and looping until 10:30 p.m.

Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The entire show lasts approximately 90 minutes, but stopping by for any length of time is well worth it. Pull your vehicle off to the side of the road, tune your car radio in to 89.7 on the FM dial, relax and enjoy!

Library news 

The Groton Public Library will be closed for Christmas on Dec. 24 and 25. It will close at 5 p.m. Dec. 31 and be closed all day Jan. 1.

The Friends of the Groton Public Library want to thank the community and give back for all its generosity. They have a huge variety of books to choose from for all ages and are offering them for free during the months of December and January. Donations are appreciated but are not necessary to take a book.

Town parking restrictions  

Just a reminder that the parking of vehicles is prohibited on all town highway rights-of-way within the town of Groton between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. from Nov. 1 to May 1 of each year. Violators will be subject to a fine, and vehicles may be towed at the owner’s expense.