GUILDERLAND — Last week, John McDonnell, who directs the Guilderland Food Pantry, talked to a woman in her early seventies who had been retired for about five years.

He recounts their conversation in this week’s Enterprise podcast.

“She said, ‘You know, I worked my entire life. And now I don’t have enough. And I don’t know what to do.’”

McDonnell said, “It breaks my heart.”

He knows what it feels like to need help.

When McDonnell started his career at Veterans Affairs, he was a full-time government worker, married with two kids. “And I qualified for WIC,” he said of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. “I qualified for reduced lunches at school and I missed qualifying for food stamps by $25 a week.

“The first time I had to walk into WIC …,” he said, “‘Humbled’ is probably not even the word for it … It sucks, honestly.”

He wants Guilderland residents to know they will be welcomed at the food pantry. “If they’re hungry, they’re not going to leave that way …. One person at a time, we can change the world.”

One in nine people in Guilderland is food insecure, McDonnell says, and the number has grown during the pandemic in what he calls now “the perfect storm.”

Prices for food, utilities, and gas are all increasing, McDonnell said. “And we’ve lost all of the COVID monies.” Day-care centers have closed or increased markedly in price, he said. Grown children are moving back in with their parents, grandparents are caring for their grandchildren so parents can work

Guilderland, perceived as an upper-middle-class suburb, McDonnell said, has pockets of poverty: trailer parks tucked away, old motels that are run now like boarding houses.

The federal government, after two years of providing free lunches for every student, has returned to the original system of providing lunches for families deemed poor. McDonnell says that almost 20 percent of school-age children in Guilderland qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

When he became director of the food pantry, in 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, he began a backpack program where children, referred by their school counselors, were sent home on Fridays with easy-to-prepare weekend food.

Two dozen kids were enrolled in the program in 2020; that grew to 65 in 2021, and 80 are projected for this year, McDonnell said.

From August last year to this past August, pantry use has increased 55 percent. Last year, the pantry provided under 21,000 meals; this year, it is projected to provide over 36,000.

The Guilderland Food Pantry started in 1979 in the basement of the Hamilton Union Presbyterian church. In 2018, it moved to a larger space at Christ Church, on 4 Charles Boulevard where it has more than doubled its space, from 1,000 to over 2,400 square feet.

Anyone who lives in the Guilderland catchment area is welcome to fill out the paperwork to use the pantry, which takes “all of about five minutes,” McDonnell said. Eligibility is based on income and the number of household members; people who qualify for any government assistance, McDonnell said, naming WIC; Social Security disability; and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which used to be called food stamps, is eligible.

“We try to make it as easy as we can ….,” he said. “We treat people with dignity and respect because we know that they’re in a tough spot.”

The pantry has stayed open throughout the pandemic, although the number of volunteers dropped from 75 to 24 — “we never closed our doors,” said McDonnell proudly — and is now back up to around 60 volunteers.

The pandemic changed the way the food pantry does business. It is still guided by client choice but clients now submit lists, either online or over the phone, and pick up their packaged food rather than entering the pantry for it.

Last year, about 25 percent of the pantry’s clients had their food delivered to their homes; this year, about 40 percent do.

“A lot of those folks are seniors — they don’t drive, can’t drive, don't have vehicles,” said McDonnell. “Some of the others are single parents at home with kids.”

McDonnell appreciates the variety of food donations but says the downside is 10 percent of what is donated is waste because it’s expired food. In one extreme case recently, he said, someone donated lasagna noodles from Fay’s Drugs, a chain which went defunct 25 years ago.

While the 40,000 pounds of donated food each year is invaluable, McDonnell said, “Cash is always better.” It’s easy for people to donate through the pantry’s website: https://guilderlandfoodpantry.com/

This allows McDonnell to purchase exactly what he needs in bulk at a greatly reduced price through the Northeastern Regional Food Bank.

The pantry follows clients’ lists — even with gluten-free and kosher and Halal foods. “I want to make sure that what they get they’re going to eat,” said McDonnell.

McDonnell, who grew up in Guilderland, has spent much of his life meeting people’s needs. After serving in the United States Army, he went to work for Veterans Affairs, where his father and brother had worked and where his son now works.

McDonnell worked in the VA police force, starting out as a patrol officer and ending up as the chief of police at the Albany VA as well as the regional police chief for all of upstate New York.

For the last 20 years of his career, he helped run a criss team — “to resolve things peacefully,” he said. Working in a medical setting, the goal was not to arrest someone but to get them the treatment they need, he said.

“It was at times harrowing but always rewarding,” said McDonnell.

He developed “great trust” with his coworkers and “great relationships” with the veterans he helped.

Now, describing himself as “an eternal optimist,” McDonnell is still building trust with his coworkers and relationships with the pantry’s clients.

“The bottom line for me is, we have folks in our community who are struggling — and they may not struggle forever …,” he said. “We need to encourage people that need help … We need to encourage people to not be afraid, not be intimidated by the process … All you have to do is call me and you’ll get food …

“If you need other assistance, we can get you to other people that could help you with things … This is not going to last forever … Let’s build a relationship. Let’s build a friendship and let us help you help yourself because I know that eventually you’re going to get back on your feet and you’re going to end up being the one that volunteers … the one that donates to the food pantry or to another organization, because we know that’s where the heart of people is.

“So,” McConnell concluded, “I just want to encourage people to be optimistic. You know, things will get better. But, if you need us, we’re here.”