By Scott Nicholson
Franklin Kemp knows how to coax food from the dirt,
but he’s still learning how to conjure up donations
to help feed people in Watauga County.
Franklin Kemp is a volunteer
at the Hunger & Health Coalition in Boone.
Photo by
Scott Nicholson |
Kemp came to the county from Raleigh in 1989
and operates an organic broccoli, corn and potatoes farm
in Zionville. A former painting contractor, he now spends
much of his retirement still working, albeit now without
pay.
Kemp brought a family to the Hunger & Health Coalition
to sign up for food two years ago, and said he was impressed
by the operation and asked how he could volunteer.
“I was not aware that this facility even existed,”
he said of the kitchen, pharmacy and clinic in the Bamboo
Road area. “I was doing about 40 hours a week of volunteer
work here, going to various food outlets to pick up surplus
for the food-recovery program every day. Now the focal point
is the diminished amount of foodstuffs that we are able
to collect. I view it as an impact from our economy.”
Grocery stores are not contributing as many products as
they used to, and restaurants that used to contribute leftovers
to the food recovery program have since stopped. Civic and
church groups have also donated at lower levels, and the
coalition now works with regional organizations to try to
meet local needs.
“From two years ago to the present, our list has gone
up by at least 50 percent,” Kemp said. “There
is truly need in this area that has been created in the
last six months from working, low-income families. I’ve
always been aware of need in others, but it’s always
been so far removed, such as in Third World countries, but
we have need here in Watauga County of gigantic proportions
that I wasn’t aware of.”
Kemp’s typical day of volunteer work is to go to chain
grocery stores for contributions, pick up leftover food
from Appalachian State University’s food service that
can be packaged as ready-made meals, and help assemble boxes
of canned and dry goods. Produce and bread are available
daily, and families are allowed one box of food per month.
“Meals are becoming less and less available,”
Kemp said. “We’re a nonprofit organization, so
we depend greatly on contributions.”
“We’re seeing a large amount of new clients applying
for supplemental food services from us,” Kemp said.
“These are young, middle-aged working people, making
comments that they never thought they would have to ask
for social assistance of any kind. The elderly come in on
fixed incomes and say they’ve never asked for help
in their lives. It’s tragic to see the need here in
the county that we can’t meet because of lack of donations.
Donations decline, needs increase.”
“What really concerns me is the younger families with
children that come in,” he said. “My heart goes
out to the children. You can see the stress in the faces
of the parents that they can’t keep their children
adequately fed. We periodically have kids come in and ask
for a sandwich or a carton of milk instead of candy. That’s
when it really grabs me.”
Kemp said new faces are appearing every day to receive food
services. The analogy he makes is, “We’re trying
to put out a forest fire with a water pistol.”
When not tending his farm, he likes to read extensively.
“I don’t own a television, I don’t own a
cell phone, I don’t own a computer,” he said.
“I believe in living a simple, Spartan lifestyle by
choice, so the economic crunch has not impacted me personally
that much. When people refer to the ‘market’ right
now, I think of the farmer’s market.”
Kemp said as a Hunger Coalition volunteer, he has become
more aware of basic needs and how lower-income families
live on the margins of society, with little wiggle room.
“So you cut your food, from the quantity of food to
the quality of food,” he said. “The middle class
has gone form a stew-beef economy to a ground-beef economy.”
Kemp also has atypical adventures, such as Tuesday morning
when he wanted to move an outhouse at his home. “I
jacked it up, put wheels on it, and moved it to a new location,”
he said. “I haven’t put it in service yet. The
privy hole was dug to county specifications. I figured if
I moved it myself, I could have that on my resume. I like
to keep life simple–kerosene lanterns and outhouses.”
Kemp said some people consider him “eccentric as opposed
to being crazy, but that’s just because I have money.”
The Hunger & Health Coalition accepts fully tax-deductible
cash donations, as well as any food, whether dry goods or
fresh produce. The coalition gives out between 20 and 40
boxes of food a day, which serves between 150 and 200 families
a week.
Kemp said a number of families earn too much money to qualify
for food stamps but not enough to buy food.
“The community can then have a hand in helping the
community they live in,” Kemp said. “The minimal
amount of surplus you have will help someone who has nothing.
When you have nothing, a can of pork and beans is a lot.”
For Kemp, he said volunteering is a way to give back a little
of what has been given to him over the years. “That’s
my sole purpose of being here,” he said.
For food donations or more information on the Hunger &
Health Coalition, call (828) 262-1628.
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