Although
Care & Share of Erie County dates to 1971, when the Church Women United organized the nonprofit, faith-based agency, it has been celebrating 50 years of helping folks in the community this year thanks to its official incorporation taking place in 1974.
With a focus on fighting food insecurity, it has evolved over the years, as chronicled in
a history on its website.
For example, furniture long was part of the equation, but in 2010, that part of the operation was dropped – with the
Catholic Charities Furniture Ministries picking up that slack – so the organization could increase its offerings in terms of food, as well as with clothing, linens and housewares.
“The spirit is the same,” says Anita Kromer, who came on board as its executive director in April 2021 and, in a recent phone interview, stresses the ongoing progressiveness of the faith-based organizations behind Care & Share. “I think that’s the thing you can say – that’s been there throughout and is still here.”
Care & Share helps those in need with supplemental and emergency food and other supplies.
“We’re not your full month’s worth of groceries,” Kromer says. “We’re maybe a week’s worth of groceries.”
In the first few decades of its existence, Care & Share moved around, settling in the late 2000s at its current home at 241 Jackson St. in downtown Sandusky. It was also in 2010 that the 10,000-square-foot space was renovated and remodeled, which, along with ceasing to house furniture, allowed the organization the space needed to launch a choice pantry for clients.
It’s not the home-like pantry or “closet” some may envision, Kromer says, guesstimating its size at 3,000 square feet.
“It’s more like a mini-mart than what you think of as a pantry,” she says. “People are surprised when they walk in here.”
A big piece of the puzzle came when Care & Share looked into buying a used refrigerator freezer from a local company.
“The next thing you know, they donated to us a brand-new glass-front fridge and freezer,” Kromer says. “I’ve got frozen berries. I’ve got salmon. I’ve got venison. I’ve got turkey. I’ve got taquitos. I’ve got a variety that we can offer now that is, I would say, astronomical compared to what we were able to do before.”
Care & Share serves clients from 9 to 10:45 a.m. and 1 to 2:45 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with a second window on Tuesdays from 5 to 6:45 p.m. A qualifying individual’s quantity is based on factors such as family side or if they are a senior.
“It’s first-come-first-served,” Kromer says. “They’re usually here 15 minutes before we open the door.”
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Kevin LeeWhen you read
Care & Share’s mission statement and vision, you encounter words such as “dignity” and “respect” connected with their approach to working with clients.
“When people come here, it’s a challenge (just) to walk into our doors – especially when it’s someone’s first time,” Kromer says. “Maybe they don’t need help all the time. Your furnace breaks down, your car breaks down, and this month, you’re not going to make bills, but you’ve got to put food on your table. People have their pride and dignity, and it’s important that when people come here, they feel welcomed, that they don’t feel judged.
That idea is put into practice largely by those who donate their time to Care & Share.
“This place does not exist or run without the volunteers and the good work that they do, the good hearts that they have,” Kromer says. “They’re the ones who make it welcoming.”
The organization boasts a staff of only four, but even that is misleading. She is the only person paid by the board of directors, with the other three paid via grants she chases or, yes, volunteering.
Michael Anders, the intake registrar, started out volunteering, she says, at a time when more and more Spanish-speaking people were seeking help.
“He was fluent in Spanish, and he said, ‘I can help you guys do registration.’ The next thing I know, he’s showing up for all seven shifts – seven two-hour shifts – doing intake,” Kromer says. “I said to my board, ‘He’s got a skill set that we need to value, and then I looked for another grant to be able to fund his position.
“(Choice Food Pantry Coordinator) Jim Bertsch just does it out of the goodness of his heart and soul,” she continues. “He is here for six of the seven shifts restocking. And then he comes in on Fridays because after COVID, we could not find a cleaner to come in and clean the facility, and he hand-mops this place.
“To have those three people to count on, it allows me, as the director, to do more of the office work that I need to be able to do – looking for grants and dealing with daily client issues. It really has enabled us to do so much. I really can’t say enough.”
In all, about 80 people volunteer, but Kromer says that is another number that can present the wrong idea.
“It sounds like a lot,” she says. “But it’s not 80 volunteers that show up every day.”
Some donate time once a week or once a month. Some are snowbirds, so they’re not around all year.
“We’re always in need of volunteers,” Kromer says. “This is an aging population of volunteers that have been so dedicated to the food side.
“We need some newer, younger blood – (and) younger older blood – coming through and helping to have some relief and allow (the older volunteers) to truly retire,” she adds. “They love what they do, and that’s why they do it for two hours. They enjoy their conversations with people and having that contact and being able to assist.
“This kind of work really feeds the soul, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
The need for more volunteers comes as Care & Share has seen a significant increase in demand. In the fiscal year that ran from July 2023 to June, the organization served more than 25,000 people in the county, according to its website which was a whopping 77 percent bump from the previous 12 months. Clients returning after the pandemic tells part but not all of the story, Kromer says.
With basic living expenses, such as rent, increasing, she expects the demand to grow even more, so don’t expect any grand vision for the future of Care & Share as it celebrates five decades of service.
“My challenge is staying with what our mission is,” Kromer says.
Of course,
donations of food, linens and the rest – but especially money – help a great deal.
“When they write a check, they can designate what they want it to go to or they can trust us to utilize it appropriately,” she says. “And I would say 95 percent of all the money that comes in here is going to food. We don’t purchase anything for the clothing-linen said.”
Speaking of generosity from the community, Kromer says there have been myriad instances of learning of a client in desperate need of a larger item that falls outside of what Care & Share can provide – a crib, a stove, etc. – only to have someone reach out as quickly as 15 minutes later asking if the organization knows of anyone in need of just such an item.
“This is God’s work,” she says.
And Care & Share will keep working, doing its best to evolve as the times demand. One change in recent months Kromer pointed to was changing from allowing one single visit per month and instead allowing clients to get their allotment over multiple visits if it is too difficult for them to transport everything at once.
“That’s the beauty of being a smaller organization,” Kromer says. “We can change to meet the need.”