Family’s ‘free mini food pantry’ provides for city’s needy

ALBANY – In the event of a crisis, there are those of us who sit and complain. And there are those of us who find a way to do what we can to help.

Put Jordan and Ben Proctor, Jordan’s mom Michele Hood, and members of the Proctor/Hood family in the latter category.

When Jordan Proctor saw a TikTok video of a Pittsburgh man’s efforts to feed the hungry in his neighborhood in the wake of the government shutdown that had stretched for more than a month, she, hubbie Ben – himself a federal employee who had been furloughed from his civilian job at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany – and other members of the family came up with their own plan.

And that plan morphed into a free mini food pantry set up on property near mom Michele’s home on Stuart Avenue in northwest Albany that has become a popular stop-off for individuals struggling through government inaction that has left many desperate to feed their families.

“We had this shelf in our storage room holding Christmas decorations, we borrowed a gazebo – and lights so that we could keep the pantry open at night and in all kinds of weather – and we started gathering food items,” Jordan Proctor said. “Doing something like this for others makes us feel good, but it makes us sad that there is such a great need and we can’t do more.”

The Proctor/Hood clan is doing plenty for individuals like Rodney Jones and Carlos Cody, who dropped by the food gazebo Sunday afternoon to pick up a few necessities.

“With all this Trump stuff going on, there is a great need in our community and all over the country,” Jones said. “I know there is a lot of misuse and abuse of the system, but there are people who are truly in need.

“I saw this and just said, ‘Wow!’ There are people who are willing to help folks who are suffering. I commend these kind people for what they’re doing.”

Ben Proctor pulled against the curb adjacent to the food pantry Sunday with a load of items he’d picked up after a Walmart run.

“All of this stuff,” he said, indicating the packed back of his pickup, “was purchased using money that was donated by the community. This whole thing was 100% my wife’s idea, but we’ve all seen what a good idea it’s become. The stuff you see on display now … it will be gone in a few hours. There is definitely a need.”

Proctor knows about the need: He’s been furloughed throughout the shutdown.

“We’ve seen first-hand how this (shutdown) affects the community, and we wanted to do all we could to help,” he said. “Since I’ve been furloughed, this has kind of become my job. We come out here three or four times a day to restock things. It’s really cool to see people react to this; we feel we are helping fill a need.”

Jordan Proctor said the family worked together to make their free food gazebo sustainable, and they’ve been encouraged by the response.

“People drop food off, and there have been people who’ve donated money,” she said. “It feels good to do something to help the community; I just wish we could do more. That’s the plan, eventually, to maybe put up more shelves so that we can put out more food and more products to help people in the community.”

As the Proctor/Hood family has placed non-perishable food items, paper products and other necessities on display, many skeptics in the community have warned them that “some people are going to come in here and take everything you have.” Ben Proctor said that hasn’t happened.

“It’s been great really; the people come in and get things they need; get things that their kids will enjoy,” he said. “If somebody came in and took everything, well, that’s on them. But what we’ve seen so far is that people are grateful to have this opportunity and they usually get just a few items.”

The food pantry, which is located just off Stuart Avenue where it intersects with Pearl Avenue, is generating the kind of interest that the Proctors had hoped it would. On Sunday afternoon, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital employee Sheneka Moore stopped when she saw the gazebo.

“I live close by, and when I saw this, I just wanted to donate, to help them any way I could,” Moore said. “I’m going to go get some things and bring them back. I think this is just an amazing idea.”

And, Michele Hood points out, the gazebo is for everybody.

“It’s like our family,” she said. “It’s not about politics, religion, race; it’s not generational,” she said. “All of that doesn’t matter. It’s about helping our neighbors.”

The family plans to keep the mini food pantry up for the foreseeable future. Anyone interested in dropping off supplies or donating funds to help purchase supplies may call (229) 349-4948.