fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Thurman Greco moves on from Good Neighbor Food Pantry

by HV1 Staff
September 16, 2013
in Community
0
greco HZT
Thurman Greco

Thurman Greco, who served Woodstock’s Good Neighbor Food Pantry for many years, has retired from her volunteer post so she will have time to finish writing a book, take care of an ailing friend, and start a new food pantry in the Boiceville area. And, although she is now in her 70s, she still has a day job.

Within the food pantry, “Thurman wore many hats,” said board member Guy Oddo, and therefore the administration is undergoing a reorganization process in response to her departure. Oddo is one of two co-coordinators taking over Greco’s official role.

“The pantry was taking about 60 hours a week of my time,” said Greco, who signs off each of her letters and emails “Peace and food for all.” “I love it. I was happy to give it every minute I could. But if I drop dead tomorrow, the book will not get published. It’s a good book. If I walk away from the Good Neighbor Food Pantry, it will flourish — it’s been on autopilot for a couple of years. We have all the volunteers trained, and it’s running very well.”

Greco works as a reflexologist, healing clients through application of pressure to points on the feet, and a practitioner of reiki, or hands-on healing, with a specialty in end-of-life reiki. Her book, Reflexology for the Spirit, deals with “the spiritual component of our afflictions,” she said. It’s almost ready to go to her publisher, The Turning Mill, run by Lucy Swenson of Palenville. “She publishes the books of healers in the area,” explained Greco. “To be included in that lineup is wonderful thing for me.”

Greco has been involved in organizing the new Reservoir Food Pantry, in the Town of Olive, to alleviate pressure on the Woodstock pantry, which is housed in the basement of the Reformed Church on the Village Green. Good Neighbor, which used to get fewer than 200 visitors a month, is now serving up to 2000 a month, as a result of the 2008 economic collapse.

“Now one senior in four, one child in five, doesn’t have enough to eat,” reported Greco. “Children are coming to school hungry. If there’s food in the refrigerator, the parents won’t have enough money for gas to get to work.”

 

Organizing Reservoir Food Pantry

After the economy tanked, New York State’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program passed a guideline requiring food banks to serve everyone who came to the door with a three-day supply of food for each household member. “It totally changed how the pantry functions,” noted Greco. “We had to bring in huge amounts of food.” They now provide, in addition to canned goods, fresh produce and frozen foods, which come from state food banks, monetary donations, food drives, and local businesses such as Migliorelli Farm, Hurley Ridge Market, and Bread Alone Bakery.

Earlier this year, the demand resulted in a dangerous level of overcrowding in the church basement. Greco credits board member Richard Allen with locating a truck for the pantry’s use and retrofitting it with freezers, refrigerators, electricity, and shelves. “It was a dream come true,” she said. “Richard proceeded to drive to Latham twice a week and come back loaded with fresh produce and distribute it at a satellite location.”

Although four satellite deliveries a week have eased the overcrowding in the Woodstock pantry, it became clear that another site was needed. Pantries are located in Kingston, Saugerties, Woodstock, and Phoenicia, but there’s a gap along Route 28 that needs filling. Greco has been working with a small group of people to organize the Reservoir Food Pantry, which began to distribute food on September 10, primarily to homebound people.

“We’ll be doing that until we find a place from which we can work,” said Greco. “We’re processing 501c3 papers to become a nonprofit. I have an office we’re working out of on Tuesday mornings. Getting people who need food is the easiest part of the job. All you have to do is whisper ‘pantry,’ and people come out of the woodwork.”

Greco is planning to hold a food drive soon, and she is actively seeking a site for the new pantry in the Boiceville or Olivebridge area.

“When people come to food pantries,” she said, “you do the best you can to give them dignity and honor, to make them realize they haven’t done something wrong.”

To suggest a site for the Reservoir Food Pantry, or to offer donations of food or money, contact Thurman Greco at 845-399-3967 or reservoirfoodpantry@gmail.com. The Good Neighbor Food Pantry, located at the Woodstock Reformed Church on Woodstock’s town green, is open Wednesdays from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Thursdays from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, with distribution at satellite locations several days a week. Good Neighbor can be reached at 845-417-5535, or through their website, https://www.goodneighborfoodpantryofwoodstock.com. Also see Greco’s website at https://www.thurmangreco.com.

Tags: Thurman Greco
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

HV1 Staff

Related Posts

O+ Exchange celebrates grand opening this weekend
Community

O+ Exchange celebrates grand opening this weekend

June 12, 2025
Family has a new home!
Community

All in for Family

June 12, 2025
Woodstock police officer likely saved my life, grateful reporter says
Community

Woodstock police officer likely saved my life, grateful reporter says

June 11, 2025
First annual Pop-Up Puppet Festival will feature professional puppeteers, workshops and community support for Afghan refugees
Community

First annual Pop-Up Puppet Festival will feature professional puppeteers, workshops and community support for Afghan refugees

June 9, 2025
Not much sinking at the septuagennial New Paltz Regatta
Community

Not much sinking at the septuagennial New Paltz Regatta

June 10, 2025
Peace, love and pride (photos)
Community

Peace, love and pride (photos)

June 9, 2025
Next Post

Sean Lennon & Charlotte Kemp Muhl coming to BSP in Kingston

Weather

Kingston, NY
64°
Cloudy
5:18 am8:34 pm EDT
Feels like: 64°F
Wind: 4mph E
Humidity: 76%
Pressure: 30.12"Hg
UV index: 0
SunMonTue
68°F / 57°F
72°F / 57°F
73°F / 63°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing