When determining how best to help someone in need, the best approach is to simply ask them.
That philosophy has helped Jessamine Stone go from a dissatisfied food pantry client to a very satisfied coordinator of the same pantry, with a happy client group to match.
Jessamine went to her local pantry in Groton to help with feeding her family of eight and wasn’t pleased with the experience.
“I did not have a good experience as a client, and because of that I swore off pantries,” she says. “
In 2015, when I was working in Enfield and started taking people to that pantry, I saw a completely different side.” It was that positive feeling that made her reconsider taking over the Groton Food Providers pantry after initially declining the request from the pastor of the Groton Assembly of God in 2018.
“I wondered if I could make it accessible and friendly, and a couple of days later I went through the line and saw that things hadn’t changed a bit,” Jessamine says. “I told him I would do it, but there were conditions.” The stigma of using a pantry had to go, and the quality and quantity of the food had to increase. He agreed.
Going from client to coordinator wasn’t without its bumpy patches.
“I bumbled through 2019,” she shares, “then we had the pandemic, and I learned a lot very quickly. I’m so glad I had that first year before.”
Among the learning moments for Jessamine was discovering the differences in how food needs vary from one person to another.
“When I came to this, I needed to know what we can give people that will be helpful and offer access to healthy food,” she says. “It’s also thinking about how food stretches. I have a family of eight, and what it looks like for me isn’t what it looks like for others.”
Part of increasing people’s comfort level in using the pantry was getting to know everyone personally, which Jessamine tackled head-on.
“The first six months I ran the front desk,” she explained. “I wanted to know everyone’s name and be the face they remember. That’s easy when you serve 20 or 30 families, but when we started serving 100 families, it became a little game. I had ways to remember names, and I’d say, ‘Don’t tell me …’ “
Having staff that shares her mindset is incredibly helpful, says Jessamine. “I love how impressed they were that we took the time to get to know them.”
“We have volunteers as young as six to adults in their 80s, and probably 70% of our volunteer staff started as participants,” she says. “We want to see as much diversity as possible and to have different experiences represented. I always say I’m spoiled. I have such a great team.”
Small changes can make a big difference, especially in a pantry setting.
“It’s about making an inviting environment. It’s giving people back their dignity.” – Jessamine Stone
Jessamine Stone is the coordinator of the Groton Food Providers Panty in Groton, N.Y.
“I hear over and over how different things are,” she adds. “We knew it was working because people started bringing their friends. Many people come in with their heads hanging, but they figure out quickly that’s not what we’re about here. It’s giving people dignity. It changes the dynamic of the situation. It’s knowing that for some of them, it’s the highlight of their week. What a change from ‘I need to get out before anyone sees me.’ ”
That comfortable vibe goes beyond the pantry walls. Jessamine says she’s had clients write testimonials to include with grant requests, and a Facebook group that’s set up to share recipes and other information has more than 700 members.
One story in particular sticks with Jessamine.
“The local high school reached out and told us they had a boy who wanted to go to a dance but didn’t have dress pants, and his mom couldn’t afford to buy them,” she says. “They asked if there was anything we could do. I put it out there, and within 24 hours, one of our participants called and told me he took up a collection and raised $40 to buy a pair.”
He told Jessamine, ”I can’t always do a lot, but you do a lot to help us.“
She explained that it’s those kinds of experiences that make it come full circle. “People are not just coming for a handout.”
This epitomizes the type of community Jessamine hopes to help foster.
“I’ve been blessed. People are pretty accepting of the model, and that makes my job easier,” she adds. “It’s always my mission. Whatever we do, we can’t lose the heart in what we do.”
You can read this and other stories from around the Southern Tier in our quarterly newsletter, The Harvester, on our website.