About 11 years ago a friend of Joan Clarke said she was going to volunteer at the local food pantry and asked if Clarke would like to come along.
Clarke brought her husband Bill with her and they have been volunteering ever since.
“It’s hard work, but I like it. It really gives you a view of a different side of life,” Joan Clarke said of the people who line up as early as 2:30 p.m. for food that gets distributed at 6 p.m.
The Clarkes volunteer at the Living Bread Food Pantry at the United Methodist Church in Plainville.
The pantry has been helping the town’s needy for 30 years. It was started after the Lovely and Doiron families donated money in 1985 to the church for emergency assistance for people in need.
It was named Living Bread after a passage in the Bible, John 6:51, quoting Jesus as saying “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.”
Bill, 83, drives around on Wednesday mornings to various stores that donate to the pantry. Joan, 81, helps pack the food into bags for the recipients. She said when she started 11 years ago the pantry gave out about 10 or 11 bags each Wednesday. Now it gives out 50 to 60.
The recession that hit in 2008 greatly increased the number of families in need of help and the need has not lessened much as the economy has improved.
“There are more people having a hard time or are out of work,” she said.
Joan also serves as a team leader and keeps a record of how the food is distributed.
Coordinator Becky Simon, who has been a volunteer for 17 years, said the pantry relies on people like the Clarkes who are reliable and can get things done.