Pickerington volunteer a cornerstone of the food pantry

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Amidst the hustle and bustle of preparations for the PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington’s Food Truck Frenzy is a volunteer who calmly and methodically sorts through produce.

Potatoes, apples, raspberries: All of these fresh foods pass under the watchful eye of long-time volunteer Dick Sloan on that busy day in June.

Sloan, 78, retired from his job with the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 2004 and moved out to the Pickerington area with his wife, Sue. But about four years ago, Sloan began to seek out ways to keep busy around the community.

After scanning through a bulletin at Peace United Methodist Church, says Sloan, he reached out to the food pantry to offer his expertise.

“When I was growing up, my dad had a grocery store,” says Sloan.

Summers for Sloan were spent bagging groceries, stocking shelves, running the cash register and, really, doing a little bit of everything. He eventually ran the entire produce department.

Since then, Sloan has worked a number of jobs, but he never forgot the values that he learned from that family grocery store.

“My dad always put in my head – the whole family, you know – if he couldn’t get us to do it right, how the heck could he get the other employees to do it right?” says Sloan.

“He takes care of that produce like it’s a baby,” says Gessica Peraza, director of operations at the food pantry.

Sloan meticulously caters to each type of food to keep it fresh for as long as possible.

“We have someone who understands produce,” says Barbara Meek, the pantry’s director of community relations and development.

Sloan brings an air of tenacity and attention to detail to the food pantry; he will rarely settle for less than perfection when it comes to stocking or produce.

“My wife even raises heck with me,” says Sloan. “I go into the grocery store and I see some of the guys stock shelves, and they don’t face everything out. They just shove it on the shelf.”

The shelves at the PCMA Food Pantry are carefully organized in neat rows from the front of the shelf all the way to the back. Likewise, the produce is sorted with a fine-toothed comb to select the highest quality items available for the shelves.

“When (the food) comes in … you’ve got to go through everything because, a lot of times, they’ve just thrown in their trash. I mean, a lot of stuff is rotten to begin with,” says Sloan. “We try to go through … with the premise that you wouldn’t put out anything that you wouldn’t want to eat yourself.”

For Sloan, it’s important not to sacrifice the quality of the food just because the families are in need. In Pickerington, the need for the food pantry is deceptively high.

“A lot of people perceive Pickerington as not needing a pantry,” says Peraza. “But if you look at the numbers and the families and you hear the stories that we hear, they definitely need it.”

Each month, the food pantry serves about 600 people, or up to 170 families. The pantry operates on the generosity of the community and dedicated volunteers like Sloan.

“We have an amazing community,” says Meek. “We can ask for anything and they usually will come step up to the plate.”

Sloan’s dedication to the food pantry embodies the community’s tireless support to feed the hungry.

“Everybody knows who (Sloan) is, and he’s a great guy,” says Peraza. “We couldn’t do it without him.”

Hailey Stangebye is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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“My Grandma’s Baked Apples”

“Her recipe was a little of this, a little of that, so I had to fight to figure it out myself.” –Dick Sloan

Ingredients

4 to 8 Jonathan Apples

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. flour

Light or dark brown sugar to taste (about ¼ cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (or slightly lower if you want to bake the apples more slowly). Slice apples in half and remove any undesired seeds.

Measure out some water so that it fills a 13” by 9” baking pan to about ¼ of an inch high. Combine water, flour, butter and sugar in a bowl.

Place apples face up in the baking pan. Pour sugar mixture over the tops of the apples, making sure each is sufficiently coated in the mixture.

Place pan in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, depending on desired texture and oven strength. Periodically throughout the baking, use a baster to absorb the juices at the bottom of the pan and redistribute them over the tops of the apples to keep them moist.

When a warm, golden brown hue is achieved and the apples are fragrant, they are ready to enjoy. Serve immediately or store in jars in the refrigerator for later.

Hunger Action Month

September is designated Hunger Action Month, and the PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington is getting in on the action.

The pantry is part of H3 (Hunger, Health, Hope), which works to build awareness of hunger in Fairfield County and increase communication among county food pantries and supporting organizations.

The first Thursday of September, everyone is asked to wear orange to raise awareness of hunger, and food drives will be held by various organizations throughout the community.