A Thanksgiving Story By Jack Coll

A Thanksgiving Story

Sometimes, A Kind Gesture Goes A Long Way

We Could Still Use A Little Help!

By Jack Coll

11-18-15

I knew this young guy years ago, he was raising two kids barely making it, he worked in one of the mills along the river, his wife worked part time to help make ends meet. One day he found himself out of work and things were looking somewhat bleak.

A woman named Jean Smith stopped at his house upon hearing the news of the guy being out of work and presented the family with a $50.00 Gift-Card to Acme Market, at that time located on Fayette Street at Seventh Avenue.

Jean explained to the guy that the card came from Colonial Neighborhood Council, (CNC) a community service organization located at that time at 612 Fayette Street. By the time Jean visited this guy with a gift card the Colonial Neighborhood Council had been in existence for about a decade having been founded in 1967. The building they used was an old house used by Conshohocken High School for a number of years, the Colonial Neighborhood Council at that time was operated by a group of concerned citizens who early-on sponsored a Head Start Program co-sponsored by the Colonial School District. This was followed up by a tutoring program that grew into the Teacher Aide Program at Hervey S. Walker School, by 1977 a dozen teacher aides were providing assistance at the school.

The Colonial Neighborhood Council later created an Emergency Fund providing individuals and families with food and no interest short term loans to meet emergencies, oil deliveries to houses where families couldn’t afford to heat their home.  By the mid 1970’s the CNC sponsored the Meals on Wheels Program delivering meals to shut-ins unable to do their own cooking and shopping. Then there was The Well Thrift Shop and a number of other successful programs throughout the years.

The funny thing about Colonial Neighborhood Council is they don’t necessarily help “Poor People” They never thought of themselves as giving a hand-out or free food and clothing, they have always viewed themselves helping someone, some family who happens to be down on their luck. The Colonial Neighborhood Council has also been a life-line to our senior citizens, helping them with clothing and food, seniors today have found themselves living on a fixed income with rising medical cost and the CNC has been very understanding of the senior’s position.

Today the Colonial Neighborhood Council is located at 107 East Fourth Avenue, their mission is the same as it has been since 1967, helping local families with food and clothing. I don’t have to tell anyone that Conshohocken is no longer a town down and out, but yet many of our citizens have fallen on hard times from time to time. Sometimes these individuals and families just need a helping hand, not a hand out, but a little something to help them get by.

My son Brian Coll, and my daughter Jackie Coll put together a grass roots food drive three years ago, asking families to donate a can of food, a jar of peanut butter in an effort to help provide food for the Colonial Neighborhood Council so they could meet the demands of the community at Thanksgiving.

Take a minute, think about a family in this community not having food for Thanksgiving. Conshohocken is the richest borough in the state of Pennsylvania per capita, the borough budgets more than 12 million dollars a year, the cost of housing in this community is over the top, and just who do you think will be hungry this Thanksgiving?

It’s not our poor people, we don’t have any, it’s not our Conshohocken homeless people, and again, we don’t have any. The families going hungry this Thanksgiving live on West Fourth Avenue, East Sixth Avenue, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Avenues. The families trying to hold it together for their kids live on Elm Street, Maple Street, Wells Street and Forrest Street. Perhaps you live next door to them, of course you didn’t know that because families don’t go knocking on doors saying “HEY, I’m down and out.” These are proud people, trying to keep their kids in school without embarrassing them or themselves.

That brings me back to the current food drive taking place in several locations in our community, I say our community because regardless of your status it’s your community. There are several organizations collecting food and other holiday items for distribution, food collected for the Colonial Neighborhood Council is distributed within a day or two to Conshohocken and vicinity to the families in need, families down on their luck.

There are some other wonderful organizations also collecting food at this time of year, Philabundance comes to mind. Philabundance was founded about thirty years ago and contributes through food cupboards, emergency Kitchens, shelters, daycare centers and senior centers.

However, none of this food from these donations to Philabundance goes to the Colonial Neighborhood Council. It’s only when the CNC runs empty of food they can then purchase a load of food from Philabundance.

I want to be very clear about Philabundance, this organization is a life-line to thousands of families in need in the Philadelphia area, offering a number of different programs and also fights the growing demand with shrinking donations, but they are not free contributors to the Colonial Neighborhood Council.

In November of 2014 the Conshystuff food drive raised 20,000 pounds of food for the CNC, That’s quite an accomplishment, 20,000 pounds of food thanks to the members of the community who donated it. I’m proud of my children and everything they do, but going the extra mile for CNC, and in essence for the citizens of our community. Words cannot express the pride I have watching my children volunteer their time to help others.

By the way the young man with two kids that I talked about at the top of this column, well that young man was me, I found myself out of a job, living week to week and suddenly there I was. I can’t remember if I even knew Jean Smith back then, and I remember thinking that I didn’t need or want a hand-out, I knew I would be just fine, but the thought of someone looking out for me and my family was very heartfelt.

Donna and I repaid the $50.00 gift card, dozens of times over, it was because of that action nearly forty years ago that I dedicated a lifetime of volunteering back to this community, our community, my community. It’s what makes me so proud of my children, I didn’t ask them to volunteer, I never told them about the helping hand I received nearly forty years ago, this is all them.

I’m asking everyone in a position to donate a canned good, a jar of peanut butter, a can of tuna fish or a box of cereal to step-up and pass it on. With today’s high cost of living, high mortgages, and insecure corporate jobs, a whole lot of us still live week to week. It’s a lousy thought that one or more of us could find each other in line at the Colonial Neighborhood Council headquarters looking for a little help, just a little something to help us get by.

Is it possible to reach out and help raise 25,000 pounds of food in an effort to feed everyone in our community on Thanksgiving (and through the next year), you would also help a father’s chest swell with pride.