Founders, the Lexington Mission and food pantry, Lexington, Greene County
“I don’t see the town getting back to the way it was. It’s coming back better.” – Jack Jordan
In the 20 years Jack and Kathy Jordan have lived in Lexington, N.Y., they have seen storms flood their roads many times.
But this one was different.
Tropical Storm Irene left homes completely destroyed, collapsed nine bridges in Lexington, and stranded most of the town from the outside world for weeks. It was the Lexington Food Pantry, run by the Jordans, that kept neighbors in high spirits and with full bellies during that time.
The Jordans’ food pantry had only opened a few months before, in May 2011, after opening their church, the Lexington Mission, in April. Before the hurricane, the pantry provided about 15 families with meals one Saturday a month. During the hurricane, the food pantry became the heart of the community.
When the power went out all over town, people brought the food from their freezers to the pantry and church to be given to anyone who was able to get there.
“We were serving up shrimp, filet mignon -- you wouldn’t believe the types of food we were cooking,” Jack Jordan laughed. “People complained that they gained weight during the flood.”
Two hundred people showed up daily to receive breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were at least 30 volunteers on hand at any time, and more showed up during meals.
Children joined their parents in volunteering by folding clothes, serving food, cutting vegetables and riding their bikes to get clean water.
The Jordan’s granddaughter celebrated her third birthday in the middle of the hubbub.
“She thought it was great because there were hundreds of people around serving lunch,” Jack Jordan said.
One elderly volunteer drove from Hunter with trays of ziti for the pantry. The woman could barely lift the trays from her back seat, but she still felt the need to help in any way she could.
“Those are the experiences of people who have come into our life for a brief minute,” said Kathy Jordan.
A year later, abandoned homes of families who have yet to return can still be seen. The creek banks are eroded, farm fields are now filled with boulders and rocks, and debris is strewn through the streams.
But the Lexington food pantry continues to thrive and help families. After the storm, the pantry received enough food to open its doors every Saturday. It now feed an average of 30 families weekly.
“I don’t see the town getting back to the way it was. It’s coming back better,” said Jack Jordan. “People are more in tune with each other and helping each other. But as to getting built back, it’s gonna be a long time.”
How did you come to open the food pantry?
Kathy: We opened up the church in April 2011, and then we started the food pantry. My husband felt a call to do that. We started the food pantry in May, and we were only doing it once a month. We would have tubs of food that we stored in the church. Then when Irene hit, which was in August, the woman who owned the store across the street let us use the store. We moved in during that week, right after Irene. We had so many volunteers that were over there stocking shelves, and we were on the other side feeding people.
How is the pantry doing now, a year later?
Kathy: The rent was free, but we had to pay the electric, and so we can't afford to stay there. We only get a couple dollars in donations. So we're in the process of packing up and moving back to the church, which is a tremendous amount of work. We run solely on donations, and we don't receive any federal funds or town funds. It's just basically donations from churches and individuals, and we just couldn't.
What denomination is the church?
Kathy: It's Baptist. We've found that to so many, it didn't matter – we just had so many volunteers after Irene. We had this one guy come up from New Jersey. He said, “I'm here, is there anything I can do?” We were like, “Do you like to cook?” And then he was on the grill, and he stayed for a long time. Several days. There were so many people who just came. Because you couldn't do it by yourself. We lost so many bridges, and people were stranded. We had people who called [Lexington] “The Island.” They just kind of banded together and went from house to house, eating. One lady, she had OnStar in her car, and they'd get in the car and push the OnStar button, anyone who needed to make a phone call.
Text by Lauren Scrudato, through the SUNY New Paltz journalism program. Photo of Jack and Kathy in front of the Lexington Mission by Christopher Auger-Dominguez.