Deanna Giordani of Vestal spent an entire weekend sanding, drilling and hammering to make a blessing box to help people in need.
“My hands were blistered, but I loved every minute of it,” she said. “It’s what I love to do.”
Since February, Giordani has been making and filling blessing boxes: boxes filled with non-perishable food items, hygiene products and other items to help people in need. She now has five blessing boxes located in Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott and Vestal with more in the works. She also started the Friends in Need Blessing Box group on Facebook, which quickly grew to 1,200 members.
Giordani said she knows what it’s like to wonder where your next meal is coming from. There was a time in her life when she had to rely on food pantries for help. Now that she’s back on her feet, she wanted to give back to those in need.
“I have been where these people have been,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of people struggling. People in this area need help with food.”
People can take what they need from the boxes or drop some donations in the boxes, she said. Boxes are open 24 hours a day to help people who may be unable to get to a food pantry before it closes. Many people visit the boxes late at night or early in the morning.
“We’re not a big food pantry. We fill the gap,” Giordani said.
What fills the boxes depends on what people donate. Some people bake cookies and put them in the boxes. Others drop off canned goods or hygiene products such as toothbrushes, soap, baby items or feminine hygiene products. Once, someone donated bath products, she said.
“We rely on the community to help aid in filling these boxes,” she said. “I can’t do it without the community.”
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Every evening around 8 p.m., she goes to the Dunkin Donuts on Rano Boulvard in Vestal and picks up leftover doughnuts and bagels. She shares them with her neighbors and wraps the rest in plastic and puts them in the blessing boxes, she said.
If people can’t make it to the blessing boxes due to lack of transportation or other reasons, they can get a care package delivered, Giordani said. But she doesn’t just drop off a care package and leave. She will stop and chat with the person and help them find clothing or other necessities from local agencies and churches.
“I try to help them find other resources, too,” she said.
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Giordani gets help from several volunteers who donate items, help keep the boxes full and make and drop off care packages.
“I stepped up so other people did, too,” she said. “It takes a community to do this.”
Giordani said she hopes to increase the number of boxes throughout Broome County to at least 15.
Giordani said she wants to continue working on the blessing boxes for as long as she can.
“I plan to keep going,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to grow.”
More about Deanna Giordani
Home: Vestal
Hometown: Chicago
Family: Three children
Career: Stay at home mom
How to Help: For information on how to donate non-perishable food, hygiene products or other items, go to the Friends in Need Blessing Box group on Facebook or call 607-308-1416. The group is also looking for other locations for blessing boxes.
If You Need Help: Blessing boxes are located at 1707 Riverview Dr., Endicott; 20 Exchange St., Binghamton; 3145 Steward Road, Lot G1, Vestal; 200 Rano Blvd, Vestal; and 135 Baldwin St., Johnson City