Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9503020002
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SU CLAUSON-WICKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
"God gives food to every bird, but does not throw it into the nest"
Montenegrin proverb
Karen Mayer and others working at SHARE's Pulaski warehouse were wearing Santa Claus caps recently as they counted out frozen chickens and bagged potatoes.
In an era when handout programs are rapidly losing favor, these are a new breed of self-reliant Santas who help others while helping themselves. Through their work, this unique food-buying program provided low-cost Christmas dinners, as well as meals throughout the year to half a million people nationwide.
Each month, almost 6,000 families in Southwest Virginia and bordering counties in Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee exchange several hours of volunteer labor and $13 for 30 to 40 pounds of food.
SHARE - Self Help And Resource Exchange - is not a giveaway program, nor is it government subsidized. Low-cost food is available because of the buying power and volunteer labor of its 500,000 participants.
"SHARE is one of those safety nets the governor has been talking about," says Director Kathy Rayne. "It's a true safety net that this community has created to take care of itself."
SHARE of Southwest Virginia, which has been providing low-cost food throughout the region for 10 years, is one of the first affiliates of the now-international organization. It has served as a model for other groups throughout the entire Southeast from Birmingham, Ala., to Hampton Roads.
The local organization operates out of a warehouse rented from Bobby Edens in Pulaski for $1 a year. Another warehouse near Kingsport, Tenn., also is donated.
Around the holidays, SHARE efforts are especially frenzied in the Pulaski warehouse as the several thousand participants order extra boxes of food to feed guests, vacationing children and needy friends or neighbors.
SHARE of Southwest Virginia serves 1,000 families in the New River Valley and about 1,500 families in Roanoke, Bedford and Franklin counties among its regional participants.
"We're so busy we don't notice how cold it is in here," says Rayne. "We sorely miss those college-student volunteers this time of year."
Usually, Virginia Tech's Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity shows up at 6:30 a.m. Saturday to load trucks.
Senior citizen volunteer groups, handicapped residents from Fairlawn House Home for Adults, a special-education class from Pulaski County High School and other volunteers bag and box the food as it comes in during the week.
Volunteers from host groups such as the Sonshine Christian Daycare or St. Mary's Catholic Church in Blacksburg, haul food to pickup points in communities throughout the valley, where it is distributed each month.
More than half of SHARE's participants are senior citizens; 15 percent of the folks who participate in SHARE of Southwest Virginia are on food stamps. Others are college professors, community organizers and clergy. Some serve their required volunteer hours helping neighbors, assisting with Girl Scout events or helping with other community activities. Some volunteer at SHARE. For many, the SHARE work week is a big community gathering - a chance for people who might not ordinarily mingle to become friends. Some volunteers donate their hours to others unable to work so they, too, can qualify for the food.
William Holmes, an elderly Pulaski resident, received a special commendation from President Clinton because he has never missed a SHARE workday since the program began 10 years ago. Holmes is as familiar as Santa Claus himself to almost everyone who walks through the SHARE doorway.
Eighteen-year-old James Swain, who lives up the street from the Dora Highway warehouse, shows up every Saturday morning, hours before the sun.
Another volunteer, retiree Helen Davis of Blacksburg, said, "If I didn't help out, I'd feel like I was missing something." She signs up participants and distributes bags at St. Mary's, a Blacksburg pickup point. "I enjoy meeting people. I put in so many volunteer hours for SHARE and the church that I donate them to shut-ins and others who aren't able to do as much."
Davis, Mary Wolverton and Peg Driscoll, all at St. Mary's, together donate about 150 service hours a month. Others buy SHARE packages to donate to shelters or soup kitchens each month.
Melissa Swain and Ima Wallace cook up SHARE food each month to serve back to warehouse volunteers. "We feed lunch to about 200 Monday through Thursday," said Swain, whose cooking service began when she complained about the monotony of SHARE's hot-dog lunches last year.
"I asked the warehouse manager if I could bring some beans," Swain said. "And he told me I could if I brought a pan of corn bread, too. We took off from there. Yesterday we served Christmas dinner with turkey and stuffing, pies and chocolate cake."
"And it was as good as any sit-down meal," added Walter Bent of Floyd, "This is a great program. But what we in Floyd like so much is that the government isn't involved - they can't cut appropriations and leave you in the lurch."
A SHARE package usually contains about 16 food items. This month's unit featured a whole chicken, fish fillets, deli meat, meatballs, four bags of vegetables, five types of fruit, stuffing mix, hot cocoa powder and a "glitz" item - chocolate bits. The apples always come from Doe Creek Orchard in Pembroke, but most of the other items are procured in large quantities by a national buying agent at SHARE headquarters in San Diego.
"Everything is first quality," said Rayne. "Our packages have gotten better in the last few years because of our increased buying power. For instance, because we bought so many grapefruits and pears from a grower, he threw in the oranges at a low rate."
"SHARE is a great buy," said Rob Westmoreland, who picks up his SHARE package at St. Mary's. "For $13, you get about $30 worth of food." A family may get as many as three or four food packages, although most order only one.
Nina Donohoe, who picks up four packages to feed her husband, three sons and an elderly friend, said it more emphatically: "SHARE is the Lord's way of providing for us."
SHARE is open to anyone, regardless of income. Plans are currently under way for a vegetarian SHARE group. Twelve SHARE groups are available in Roanoke, Salem, Vinton and Craig County. For information on these groups or on organizing a group, call Sharon Witt at 982-2074.
by CNB