Thursday, April 20, 2006

How do you know when people need food?

Over 150 people representing 65 of our partner organizations who feed the hungry throughout the South Plains attended the South Plains Food Bank's agency conference yesterday. Most of the folks who attended are volunteers with their churches and agencies. First United Methodist Church graciously allowed us to take advantage of their wonderful new facilities.

Along with topics such as Food Safety, Pest Control, and Nutrition, we hosted a session on Customer Service. Representatives from United Supermarkets, NTS Communications, and Concho Valley Regional Food Bank talked about their approaches to customer care. The bottom line is to treat people the way you would like to be treated. Since so many of our partners are faith based, it seems they should have a leg up on treating people with respect and dignity.

Our partners do a great job of taking care of the hungry in the communities they serve. That's the strength of our network. Of course the question always comes up, do these people really need help or are they just scamming the system? A gentlemen from summed up his attitude with a comment I can identify with. " Then the husband comes in to ask for help, you know they need help." More times than not, I've heard men say something to the effect of if I didn't have children to feed, I would do without.

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