Volunteers are rewarded with food discounts in an effort that had been allowed to fizzle in Brooksville.
By BETH N. GRAY
Published September 8, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - Clifford Olson and his wife, Pat, know a lot about sharing.
The octogenarians give of their skills and time, tutoring regularly for literacy programs and for adults studying to pass the GED test.
A half-dozen years ago, the Olsons registered with Share, the national nonprofit Self Help and Resource Exchange, which entitled them to purchase monthly boxes of food at substantially reduced prices as a reward for their volunteerism.
The Olsons went that spirit of sharing one better.
"Basically, we bought the food for others," Clifford Olson said. "We had some needy people around here, and we'd give them the box (of food)."
But the Share program the Olsons participated in, at First United Methodist Church in Brooksville, faded when leaders moved away, others shied from the responsibility of running it and participation dropped.
Now, after a hiatus of more than two years, a Share presence is returning to Brooksville, sponsored again by First United Methodist.
The program works this way: Registrants devote as little as two hours a month to a volunteer effort. With a chit signed by the recipient of the volunteerism, the participant is qualified to purchase for $15 a food package valued at approximately $30.
"We never had any problem with people giving two hours per package," said Chris Gray, host coordinator for the fresh effort. "If most of us think about it, we do more than two hours of volunteer service already."
Indeed, the Olsons were volunteering three hours a day, two days a week.
"The definition of volunteer service is anything you do for someone that you don't get paid for," Gray said. It could be giving time at the Humane Society shelter, at schools, hospitals, retirement centers. It could be driving a friend to the doctor's office or mowing a neighbor's lawn.
Bob McClelland, chairman of mission and outreach at First United Methodist, spearheaded the return of Share to Brooksville.
"I just felt this is a way of service to our community, to reach people in a very important way, getting good food at a reasonable price," McClelland said.
"And I'm very interested in volunteerism. We can serve each other and take care of each other better than we do."
As for the groceries, they will be trucked by volunteers from Share Florida's Tampa warehouse to the local church and other sites, still tentative, where participants will turn in their hours on designated days and receive a reduced-price box containing quality meats, brand-name packaged foods, fresh fruit and produce.
The mix will vary monthly; participants will be notified at pickup dates what the next month's box will contain.
September's package is advertised to include chicken breasts, pork chops, sliced roast beef, corn dogs, beef ravioli, cereal bars and assorted fruits and vegetables.
With the "select program," for which local organizers have signed up, participants also will have an opportunity to purchase, at equally reduced prices, packages of shrimp and sirloin steak for $16 and a boneless smoked turkey breast for $4.50.
Share is able to cut prices because of its nationwide volume-buying power, by cutting out the middle man and frequent elimination of transportation costs, Gray and McClelland said. A trucker may haul food across the country for free as his or her contribution to Share, Gray said.
As for transporting food from Tampa to Brooksville, Habitat for Humanity of Hernando County will furnish a truck.
"One of the opportunities for (Share participants) is to work for Habitat," McClelland pointed out.
When Share previously operated locally, as many as 150 boxes of food were purchased by volunteers each month, he said.
Registration to participate in the local program will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at First United Methodist, 109 S Broad St.
Additional registration sites, dates and times, to be announced, are tentatively planned for: Hillside Community Church, Hill 'n Dale; Ridge Manor Community United Methodist Church; and the Jerome Brown Community Center in Brooksville.
Share currently has host sites in Spring Hill at Mariner United Methodist Church, St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church and Suncoast Christian Church.
The Brooksville Share site is the latest to join the Tampa Bay area program, which serves some 380 hosts in 38 of the state's 67 counties, said Louis Jackson, program assistant.
Jackson said the Tampa warehouse sends out, on average, at least 10 semitrailer truck loads of food monthly. The program has grown so much that another warehouse is planned to handle sites in the Orlando area, he said.
While churches aim their missions at helping others, Share is for everyone, its officials emphasize.
"If you eat, you qualify," said Gray. "It's not a program designed for just the needy. It's a program that's designed for anybody."
According to Share's Web site (www.shareflorida.com) "Whether you drive a Cadillac or ride the public bus, you have something to share with others...
"While saving money is good for everyone's pocket, serving our communities feeds the spirit and brings forth the goodness so desirable in our world."
