Nathan Cram grabs cans, boxes and packages from shelves, depositing them in a brown paper grocery bag. He is hurrying; he doesn’t like to keep a client waiting.
Ravioli, spam, pork and beans, a no-cook package gets a lot of canned goods. Bags assembled for those with cooking facilities have more options?noodles, cake mixes, things which require a stove and more elaborate utensils.
“I try to mix it up as much as I can so they’re not getting the same thing over and over again,” says Cram, a Crossroads Urban Center volunteer and senior in mass communication at the U. “Sometimes you have to give them four cans of corn because there’s no other vegetables.”
Cram, like other U student volunteers, became acquainted with Crossroads through a service learning class, but when the class ended roughly a year ago, he kept on coming back, a few hours each week.
He is fulfilling a childhood dream of working in the supermarket, he jokes. But he likes the shelter of the pantry, near the rear of Crossroads’ building. He doesn’t answer phones, and he rarely does intake which entails getting basic information from those who come seeking emergency food assistance.
Crossroads runs a thrift store, holiday food distribution and advocacy projects, plus the pantry. There, coming face to face with hunger and poverty in Salt Lake City is not optional.
“You talk to people and hear stories, that makes an impact,” Cram says. “It’s hard to deal with the emotion. I kind of feel buffered and protected in back.”
The intake offices are not happy places. Asking for food or other basic assistance hurts. The majority of those who come to Crossroads have homes and jobs, but cannot make ends meet. Many are families. Some are unemployed, floating in the gap between severance and unemployment. Some came to town in search of service jobs for the Olympics. Others, like some seniors and the disabled, live on fixed incomes which run dry toward the end of the month.
Jay came to Crossroads for the second time in about three months. He needed something to eat after a big car repair and some lost work depleted him.
The older man’s skin, hair and beard look sun- and wind-weathered. He is full of stories, checking off experiences as if from a grocery list.
He says he once attended the U, served in the Army and on a mission, traveled around the country, was once a rich man, and has more than 60 years of experience under his belt.
He admonishes each young person reading his words to “make something of your life and help others along the way” and to “remember in the end, try to show some reverence for the Almighty.”
The old philosopher, as he calls himself, speaks with the conviction and booming voice of a street preacher, yet remains reticent when asked about his own situation, saying only that he works as a repairman and lives with friends.
Like Jay, more than half of those who sought help at Crossroads last year were employed somehow.
But a job does not necessarily mean self sufficiency, according to Linda Hilton, Crossroads’ volunteer and resource coordinator.
A full-time, minimum-wage job with standard withholdings yields about $800 a month?below or near the poverty line for families.
Crossroads will distribute food up to six times in 12 months for a person. Clients need only give minimal information to receive food?no proof of unemployment or homelessness is required.
“We’d rather error on the side of generosity and be client-friendly,” Hilton says. “We don’t know a lot of times where they come from.”
Although students make up an important part of Crossroads’ volunteers, they sometimes show up on the other side?though how often is a matter of speculation.
“I’ve had a few say ‘I’ve just paid my tuition. I can’t drop out. I’m broke,'” Hilton says.
Most data on hunger focuses on children, those in the 18 to 25 demographic don’t get talked about much, according to Gina Cornia, executive director of Utahns Against Hunger.
“In Utah, we have couples that get married really young. They have kids when they’re in college. How do they make ends meet?” she says.
Sometimes Crossroads helps get people through a tough period, and it sends some off in other directions to get help. Food is usually the most immediate need.
Hilton remembers a woman fleeing domestic violence, several children in tow.
The kids were scared, crying and hungry, stressing the woman even more. Feeding the kids was the only way to calm them down and get her thinking more clearly. Then she could consider her options, where to go, what to do.
“We probably do 350 referrals per month for other agencies,” Hilton says.
Food is also the most flexible part of a budget?rent, medical bills and other expenses must be paid?so it is the first thing to go, Cornia says.
Use of the emergency pantry increased 114 percent in Utah from 1995 to 2001, according to a Utahns Against Hunger report. Most of this increase occurred outside of Salt Lake County.
Part of the problem, Cornia says, is that wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. Low wages and other shortfalls in the system manifest as hunger.
“If fair wages and more accessible health care converged and were available, hunger would be less of an issue,” she says.
For Ashley DiAna, a U senior in political science, hunger is an issue of social justice.
A stint as a service learning volunteer at Crossroads sparked her interest in the problem, pushing her on to a fellowship in Washington, D.C.
“I believe access to nutrition is a fundamental human right,” she says. “We live in a country of plenty, and there are so many who do not have enough to get by.
“It’s rare that you find an issue that literally affects every person alive and this is one that does.”
Like its clients, Crossroads’ volunteers come from all over. Some are recovering from substance abuse, and preparing to enter the work force. Service learning students like DiAna and Cram are common during the fall and winter months, but with the end of the school year, volunteer numbers dwindle. People go hungry year-round, and summer can be a lean time for Crossroads.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Linda Hilton at 364-7765 or [email protected]. To donate food, bring the sort of things you would eat to 347 S. 400 East. Financial donations from individuals are the largest source of revenue for Crossroads. These are tax deductible.