Couple make food deliveries for people - and pets - in need
By Reed Galin"
Gail (center) and Dick Buettgenvach deliver food to people and pets in Jackson County, Mich. UMNS photos by Reed Galin.CONCORD, Mich. (UMNS)--The old van needed a jump-start this afternoon. Dead battery.
Now it plows along an old country road, with 400 pounds of groceries and pet food providing ballast in the back.
"We'll be fine," Dick Buettgenvach assures his wife, Gail. "Just remind me not to shut off the engine when we stop." Then he jokes about how neither will remember that precaution, since they're both 76.
Gail isn't worried. She's been making do all her life, and today is no different. There's a job to do. People and animals depend on them and will not be let down, not by Gail and Dick Buettgenvach. Not ever.
The Buettgenvachs, hunger relief coordinators for Concord United Methodist Church, have loaded the van with food from the North Parma United Methodist Food Pantry of Jackson County, Mich., along with 40-pound sacks of pet food from businesses willing to donate.
As they set out on their rounds, Gail gazes out the window at old farms and new subdivisions that weren't on this road when they started making deliveries 10 years ago. Sunlight sprays through a canopy of trees, illuminating her face like a flickering old movie as she talks about the people to whom they will deliver this Friday, as on countless others.
"I figure I can't judge other people. You don't know what someone else's hardships are. Their face doesn't always show what things really are. So you don't judge them because someday you'll be judged yourself."
God's grace
The first house is small but well kept. As Gail observed, from the street you cannot tell what is going on inside. Dick does a 76-year-old version of spryly leaping from the van and calls out a loud "hello" as he opens the tailgate. A woman about their age-like most of the recipients on their route-emerges with a smile that seems to convey relief. Her dog greets the visitors familiarly as they carry food up to the porch. Sniffing the bags, tail wagging, the pup understands what this visit means.
Now it plows along an old country road, with 400 pounds of groceries and pet food providing ballast in the back.
"We'll be fine," Dick Buettgenvach assures his wife, Gail. "Just remind me not to shut off the engine when we stop." Then he jokes about how neither will remember that precaution, since they're both 76.
Gail isn't worried. She's been making do all her life, and today is no different. There's a job to do. People and animals depend on them and will not be let down, not by Gail and Dick Buettgenvach. Not ever.
The Buettgenvachs, hunger relief coordinators for Concord United Methodist Church, have loaded the van with food from the North Parma United Methodist Food Pantry of Jackson County, Mich., along with 40-pound sacks of pet food from businesses willing to donate.
As they set out on their rounds, Gail gazes out the window at old farms and new subdivisions that weren't on this road when they started making deliveries 10 years ago. Sunlight sprays through a canopy of trees, illuminating her face like a flickering old movie as she talks about the people to whom they will deliver this Friday, as on countless others.
"I figure I can't judge other people. You don't know what someone else's hardships are. Their face doesn't always show what things really are. So you don't judge them because someday you'll be judged yourself."
God's grace
The first house is small but well kept. As Gail observed, from the street you cannot tell what is going on inside. Dick does a 76-year-old version of spryly leaping from the van and calls out a loud "hello" as he opens the tailgate. A woman about their age-like most of the recipients on their route-emerges with a smile that seems to convey relief. Her dog greets the visitors familiarly as they carry food up to the porch. Sniffing the bags, tail wagging, the pup understands what this visit means.
Food recipient Gerald Fisher thanks the Buettgenvachs.The exchange of food and pleasantries takes only a few minutes.
"Thank you, faithful people!" exclaims the woman as Gail and Dick climb back into the van. "It's more helpful than you know."
But she's mistaken. They do know.
"There but for the grace of God," says Gail, as Dick adds, "go I."
'A very sinful thing'
They raised six kids and never made a lot of money. They have no health insurance, and Gail is putting off knee surgery because it will inhibit her ability to help with the food deliveries. If not for a generous relative, they explain, they could be reliant on a food bank and unable to get around themselves.
"I still worry," says Dick, who grew up dirt poor. "We watch our pennies." Because, Gail adds, anyone who thinks they couldn't end up needing such help--especially if they must rely solely on Social Security--is foolish.
"I feel great sadness for the financial and personal situations, and it just bothers me no end to see them so alone and segregated from the mainstream of society," Gail says.
She gets angry if she focuses too much on the big picture. "It's horrendous that we pay so little attention to our senior citizens. ... To me this is a very sinful thing." So, she doesn't think so much about it, she says. She and her husband just keep doing what they can.
When they realized that people were sharing their food deliveries with hungry pets, Gail and Dick started buying pet food with their own money. Over time, they found businesses that would donate.
Driven by faith
Gail limps out of the van at each stop to chat for a moment, love on the animals, and help with the smaller bags. It is faith that drives her, Gail says. "Feed his hungry. That's what he (God) expects of me. We breathe the air. We eat the food. And we don't get it for free, we have to repay it."
Dick jokes that it is Gail who drives him. "I'm just labor. She's the brains of this outfit."
His great blessing, he says, is Gail. "The least I can do is try to share my good fortune with people who aren't as lucky." He has battled cancer and has lost strength, but that just means the 50-mile route takes a little longer than it used to.
The farther from town they get, the more obvious the need becomes. People seem less able to keep up appearances, even if they were so inclined. By the time Gail and Dick get to an old trailer hidden in the trees, the last of eight deliveries, they are struggling to get the bags out of the van, but they don't complain. They offer another cheerful hello to a resident who is unable to stand and greet them.
Uncertain future
The couple are very much aware that they can't keep this up forever, but no one has been found to take over the deliveries.
As one food recipient humbly observed, "Without them, I would have to do without. But, I don't think I could have the patience to do what they do, dealing with folks like me. Guess most of us are just more selfish."
About to turn for home, Dick realizes they forgot about the battery problem and shut off the engine, but it turns over slowly and starts. With admiration, he observes that the van has been through a lot of hard miles since they began the deliveries. A few lights are taped on, dents are numerous, another new battery is needed, "but it's still perking along" he says, his comments an obvious metaphor.
"We'll keep it going. We'll do what we have to."
*Galin is a freelance producer based in Nashville, Tenn.
"Thank you, faithful people!" exclaims the woman as Gail and Dick climb back into the van. "It's more helpful than you know."
But she's mistaken. They do know.
"There but for the grace of God," says Gail, as Dick adds, "go I."
'A very sinful thing'
They raised six kids and never made a lot of money. They have no health insurance, and Gail is putting off knee surgery because it will inhibit her ability to help with the food deliveries. If not for a generous relative, they explain, they could be reliant on a food bank and unable to get around themselves.
"I still worry," says Dick, who grew up dirt poor. "We watch our pennies." Because, Gail adds, anyone who thinks they couldn't end up needing such help--especially if they must rely solely on Social Security--is foolish.
"I feel great sadness for the financial and personal situations, and it just bothers me no end to see them so alone and segregated from the mainstream of society," Gail says.
She gets angry if she focuses too much on the big picture. "It's horrendous that we pay so little attention to our senior citizens. ... To me this is a very sinful thing." So, she doesn't think so much about it, she says. She and her husband just keep doing what they can.
When they realized that people were sharing their food deliveries with hungry pets, Gail and Dick started buying pet food with their own money. Over time, they found businesses that would donate.
Driven by faith
Gail limps out of the van at each stop to chat for a moment, love on the animals, and help with the smaller bags. It is faith that drives her, Gail says. "Feed his hungry. That's what he (God) expects of me. We breathe the air. We eat the food. And we don't get it for free, we have to repay it."
Dick jokes that it is Gail who drives him. "I'm just labor. She's the brains of this outfit."
His great blessing, he says, is Gail. "The least I can do is try to share my good fortune with people who aren't as lucky." He has battled cancer and has lost strength, but that just means the 50-mile route takes a little longer than it used to.
The farther from town they get, the more obvious the need becomes. People seem less able to keep up appearances, even if they were so inclined. By the time Gail and Dick get to an old trailer hidden in the trees, the last of eight deliveries, they are struggling to get the bags out of the van, but they don't complain. They offer another cheerful hello to a resident who is unable to stand and greet them.
Uncertain future
The couple are very much aware that they can't keep this up forever, but no one has been found to take over the deliveries.
As one food recipient humbly observed, "Without them, I would have to do without. But, I don't think I could have the patience to do what they do, dealing with folks like me. Guess most of us are just more selfish."
About to turn for home, Dick realizes they forgot about the battery problem and shut off the engine, but it turns over slowly and starts. With admiration, he observes that the van has been through a lot of hard miles since they began the deliveries. A few lights are taped on, dents are numerous, another new battery is needed, "but it's still perking along" he says, his comments an obvious metaphor.
"We'll keep it going. We'll do what we have to."
*Galin is a freelance producer based in Nashville, Tenn.
posted by TN Conference UMC at 10:20 AM
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