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New The Giving Spoon executive director Ricky Sanford (left) and board member Misty Lynne Sneed help peel potatoes that will be served to the community, as per the nonprofit’s mission.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
On Wednesday, Jan. 17, with frigid airs as temperatures sat in the teens, new The Giving Spoon executive director Ricky Sanford was at the Presbyterian Church with Giving Spoon board chairperson Misty Lynne Sneed and several volunteers, peeling a large amount of potatoes to be served to the community in meals later that week.
The potatoes were part of their regular donation from MANNA Food Bank. But Sanford said they could use more volunteers.
“We need volunteers to help us do what we need to do,” he said. He was hesitant to characterize it as a challenge for the organization, but said the more volunteers, the better.
They need volunteers for several things including “dine in, pick up, kitchen area, delivery drivers, cleanup” and more, Sanford said. They could also use board members.
Those interested in volunteering can email board@brysoncitygivingspoon.com.
Sanford is replacing previous director Kathleen Burns, who retired last year.
Sanford, also known in town for his work as president of the Smoky Mountain Community Theatre Board of Directors, said he saw the job posting a few months ago and “felt in my heart this would be humbling and add to the journey called life.”
“It’s a lot more than just providing a hot meal for someone coming in,” he said.
Moving into the future
The Giving Spoon operates out of the kitchen in the back of the Presbyterian Church at 311 Everett Street every
Monday and Thursday, offering seats inside for people to sit and eat there as well as bagged and packaged meals for people to take home. And since the pandemic, they also offer delivery services, to accommodate those who for whatever reason can’t make it out to the church.
Going forward, Sanford said he wanted to do more events with The Giving Spoon, including securing a place in the 4th of July event and some parades.
“The community can expect more of a presence, for instance at 4th of July,” Sanford said. “We want to do the community things, with the parade, and we’re going to be more active in fundraising.”
Sneed chimed in saying they wanted to bring back Blue Plate Specials, a fundraising event where they would sell meals sponsored by local businesses, which hasn’t gone on since the pandemic. “We did quite well with it,” she said.
One thing Sanford and Sneed say they want to do is help ease The Giving Spoon back into more of a communal space.
While they started out with just the in-person dining inside the church, the pandemic forced them to change their tactics and do delivery services to help people the best they could when no one could get too close to one another.
“It was originally more of a dine-in,” Sneed said. “Then Covid happened, and we started getting deliveries out to people. I think Kathleen had a small route, but it really expanded once Covid hit. We had to shut down dining services, and we started bringing it back.”
While the in-person dining has resumed, the numbers are less than what they were before Covid. Sanford and Sneed hope to entice more people to join them inside the church.
“We’d love to see more people dine in,” Sanford said. “Some of the community, that’s the way they get social interaction, while having a hot, nutritious meal. We as human beings, we need food, we need that nutrition. We also need to socialize.”
“Before Covid, we had lots of people come in,” Sneed agreed. “We had families come in. I’d like to see that come back.”
A group effort
Kara Irani, director of marketing and communications for MANNA Food Bank, said Swain and every other surrounding area were seeing an increased need for food since 2022, attributable to a slew of things such as higher cost of living expenses outpacing wage growth, the ending of pandemic-era assistance for SNAP and daycare services, and the restarting of student loan payments last fall.
She quoted some numbers MANNA had on how many people in Swain were using The Giving Spoon’s services – around 3,500 every month last year, a big change from around 2,000 a month in 2019 and 2020.
Sanford said his view was that The Giving Spoon was part of a collective of various agencies, including The Restoration House and the food pantry at the church, which worked together to fight food insecurity.
“It’s never going to stop, but we can help aid in as many ways as possible,” he said.
But even so, Sanford and Sneed said The Giving Spoon doesn’t judge those who come to get a plate of food. “We have no monetary guidelines or anything like that about who comes to get food from us,” Sneed said. “We have no assumptions if you pull up in a nice vehicle, that you’re not struggling.”
Sanford thinks the job is something serendipitous for him – the theater, when it was operational before the pandemic-era closure for repairs, was about entertainment. His new gig at The Giving Spoon is something that taps into more basic needs, so he feels like he’s doing it all now.
“It’s enrichment versus essential,” he said. “It’s nice to help with more material needs, but also enrich the mind.”