It’s not always easy being new in town. When I got here, I found a lot of things were not functioning as I expected. For example, the Internet just barely puts out a signal at the library -when it does work. Another problem is with the food bank system.
I typed “food bank canby” into Google search and got 3 places. I went to the Canby Alliance Church first since they are on the top of the search results. When I got there, they said they offer food every 3rd Saturday of the month, but allowed me to look at their food choices on the Monday I showed up. I left with nothing. Everything they had was with added sugar. So, they were not much help.
Then I went to the Canby Center, which is open at 11am and talked to a lady at the desk. I asked where their food bank is and she said that its open on Tues from 11 to 2pm. I even made sure that I heard her right by using a pen and paper to write the times down in front of her and confirming the times.
The next day I show up at the Canby Center at 11 and was told that I’m just in time for the Harvest Center. I said that I was there for the food bank but was told there is no food bank here, just a harvest center. Then the lady starts telling me how the volunteers travel around and collect rotten food from the grocery stores. I didn’t understand how it wasn’t a food bank and pressed her for more information.
They were bringing food outside the building and piling it into bins for anyone to take while we talked. It took a few minutes of talking and asking the same question again and again until she said that they open early at 9am to distribute food. Apparently I was given the wrong time for food distribution, but I arrived just in time for the scraps of the scraps. She kept insisting she was not running a food bank, but a harvest center instead.
I think they are changing the language a little bit to deter strangers, not from around the area, from taking food excessively. Maybe you have to use more secret words that get you inside the loop.
Carefully Choosing Words 