You never know about a Guy named Joe

I went to Stewpot Food Pantry yesterday to do my due with buddies from St. Marks UMC, Denise Parker and Lisa Peacock.  Our church sends a work team there several times a year and we spend the week working in the food pantry.  Church members leave food donations at the church, so when I arrived at Stewpot, I was met by the humblest of people that come to the car to help carry in the items for the pantry.

Most of the time is spend bagging groceries for the folks in need.  Free time is spent doubling plastic bags that are then piled up for future use in the distribution of the food.  We also "re-bag" bulk items like flour, corn meal, sugar and rice.  Shelves are restocked from an old grocery cart that gets filled up from the big storage room that has more cans of green beans and corn than you could ever imagine.

Upon my arrival today, I discover that the chest freezer that had been on its last leg for the last several years had been replaced with a brand new one, courtesy of another church group.  I lifted the lid to see what was inside for today's distribution.  You literally never know what you will find in that freezer.  Today's find was Pizza Hut pizza, frozen loaf bread, and bags upon bags of shredded dark chicken meat. (I will never forget the hog head from a previous visit!)

I began noticing that the pantry was much neater than it had ever been.  All the can goods were neatly organized and stacked.  All the cereal boxes were lined up in orderly fashion.  I then begin to notice that one of the local helpers was busier than usual stacking additional items on the shelf.  While I was bagging flour and rice, he noticed that sugar and corn meal were low as well.  He offered to fetch additional bags of these items from the big storage room.

The man asked me how often I came, who I was with, etc...  I began to think, you know, this guy sure is asking a lot of questions.  We both compared notes.  Told him that I had been "retired" from a job I loved, much too soon.  He said, the same for him.  His name was Joe, and he was recently told he could no longer do the job he had performed for over 25 years.  He had been a truck driver.  The doctors told him he could no longer do the only job he had ever known.  His high blood pressure and diabetes had finally caught up with him.  He said that he is on dialysis three days a week and has been coming to Stewpot Tuesdays and Thursdays the last month to help out.  He is just too far spent on those days on dialysis.

Joe said, he knew that he should have been taking better care of himself over the years, but being a long haul truck driver, there was never time to eat right, sleep right, and see your doctor on a regular basis.  Well, he is doing it now.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting with Joe today, and I hope that I will be seeing him on future work visits to Stewpot.  If  Joe was writing this he would probably end it by saying "eat right, sleep right, and see your doctor on a regular basis"!  Thank you Joe!