BY PAUL MITCHELL

North Country This Week

CANTON – It’s finally time for the Church & Community Program (C&CP) to literally hit the road.

The recent acquisition of a Pacifica minivan will now allow C&CP workers and volunteers to stretch their services into the outlying areas.

On Friday, Aug. 11, Big Red will be on site at 1 p.m. at the Village Park.

Tai Chi students and Master Sean Boutin will be on hand to present their gift to the pantry, an entire set of all-weather mats for the minivan.

“Years of dreaming and planning came together at the end of the year when our first-ever C&CP vehicle arrived. Thanks to years of fundraising and to a generous $20,000 grant from the Grassroots Fund, we now have a Pacifica minivan,” stated C&CP Director Connie Jenkins.

The vehicle, she noted, will allow C&CP to enhance services to the Lisbon and Hermon areas.

“We’ll be able to pick up more food donations and are working on plans for pantry outreach,” said Jenkins. “We have a lot of details to work out, and must add more volunteers, but this news is just too good to keep quiet about.”

“We still have a way to go to set it up, but we’re figuring distribution spots where people farther away from Canton can meet us and pick up their food,” she added.

Jenkins applauded Master Sean and his students.

“The mats will keep it (the minivan) bright and shining as pantry volunteers drive to outlying areas to distribute food to people who desperately need it, as well as to pick up donated food from many local businesses who support our work throughout the year,” Jenkins remarked.

The public is invited to the park to check out Big Red, check out a brief Tai Chi demonstration and have lunch at one of the food vendors in the park during the Canton Farmers Market.

An essential service

Since 1974 the Church & Community Program has worked diligently to provide food, clothing, referrals and much more for those people less fortunate.

Today the pantry services a steady stream of families, individuals and homeless people. For example, in mid July, a Tuesday saw nine families come through the doors for food. On Wednesdays, 20 to 30 families seek assistance in some form or another.

So who comes to the pantry?

“Our clients include working people who are slipping between the cracks, grandparents raising their grandchildren, retirees, young couples, you name it,” Jenkins stated. “I speak with 90-year-olds who can’t live on $30 a month of food stamps, and others who can’t make by on low-income part-time jobs.”

“There’s also a steady line of homeless people who are sleeping outdoors or shuffling between motels and single-room-only spaces as the county attempts to find them more permanent housing.”

But there’s more to C&CP than just food and clothing.

“The food we provide is essential. I wish it could be more but it’s good quality and we try hard to get something special for everyone,” Jenkins said. “Many times, the opportunity to talk with our clients is as important as the food. Amid the uncertainty of how they will manage to feed themselves and their children, where they will live, and what the future holds, they face a long series of shut doors.”

“They’re told they don’t matter, and they’re coming to believe it themselves. We’re here to say otherwise. Everyone matters,” she said.

For more information about C&CP, call (315) 386-3534, or stop by the C&CP office at 30 Court St. and check out the Second Chance Thrift Shop.