SECOR Cares — Local services in Parker

Used to be a warm & friendly place to obtain nutritious food. Unfortunately many changes have been made & now the shelves are nearly always bare or very close to it, meaning one is lucky to leave with anything beyond day old bread, potatoes, & the odd castoff canned & other items (anchovies, green beans, hand-packed half baggies of rice or pinto beans, hopefully pasta & rarely, pasta sauce). They usually do have some frozen meat, though the last couple times I went the meat was bad & I had to throw it out after cooking it. They no longer ever have tuna, dinner "helper" mixes, condiments, or other types of canned vegetables; nor have I seen water, soda or juice for several months, no matter what day/time I've gone. The toiletry items have also gone by the wayside; it's rare to find even travel sized shampoos, etc. there any more. A lot more of the food is expired now, as well; they used to offer extra expired canned goods as a nomus but evidently they don't any more, as I haven't seen nor been offered any for 5 months. Haven't seen dairy, fruit, yogurt, etc for several months, either, even expired. It appears there was a major change in the operation; the warm & caring staffers seem to have been replaced with cold, indifferent individuals (except for the volunteers who are always friendly, though most now seem to be new & uncertain what they're doing), there are now only 3 rows of shelves where once there were 6; coolers sit empty. While I'm sure many people will likely think someone using a food bank should be grateful for anything ("you've no right to complain"), I'm discussing the changes that have occurred since this time last year. And seriously, think about this: Are How thrilled are YOU going to be to eat canned green beans, potatoes, a tiny can of anchovies & strange herbed breads day after week after month after year because it's the only good available to you, and it's "free..." And by the way, it's not; we don't have to come up with money but it's a high cost in self respect. People with another option don't use food banks. We feel bad enough without being shamed for not being "grateful" enough. Bad enough to become disabled & lose your job, family, home, credit, & everything you held dear without being criticized just for wishing you had a decent meal, something actually good, just once in awhile. Used to be thrilled with what I got here; now it's barely worth the hours-long ordeal every visit has become, only to return home with what I've described. Still, it's a clean, organized operation & I am grateful for their help. They are doing the best they can to help as many...

No one wants to "need" a food bank. Most people wait until they’re staring at an empty fridge before they even consider it. It’s not about pride - it’s just hope. Hope that maybe something will change, and we won’t have to. So the fact that places like this are available and easy to sign up for is greatly appreciated, however.. the food is such poor quality that it almost cancels out the good in the situation.

I was so relieved to have this option. I even borrowed a car just so I could go. But when I got home and started unloading this “trunk full of food,” I was heartbroken. It felt like they had just emptied a dumpster into my trunk. I had so many bags of chips I donated them elsewhere, literally an overflowing 2x3 foot box, there was a full bag of candy that seemed like it was from last halloween and christmas, bags and cases of sugary drinks, bags of rotton, literally dripping bags of salad, expired cereal, generic mac n cheese, bread that smelled a day away from being moldy, and other expired food - im not talking just past its sell-by date, some of this stuff was expired last year. Then there was ice cream, cake mix - and more junk, just junk.

Out of all that there was maybe one plastic bag of actual food, there were a few cans of veggies and soups that weren't expired, and a few small packs of frozen meat, that I'm honestly afriad to unthaw. I actually cried.. I was so torn.. it actually made me question myself - like.. does feeling this way make me ungrateful? Am I just not hungry enough? Maybe I don't "really" need food.. Perhaps if I was literally starving I just wouldn't care?

But I wasn’t looking for snacks and sugar. I was hoping to fill my fridge with real food. Instead, I ended up throwing most of it away and giving away the snacks that weren't expired. I appreciate that they're trying to give hope, and I know they’re doing what they can… but this? This doesn’t feel like help. It feels like a gut punch. Like wow.. my life has fallen to a point where I was actually excited to drive through a row of people filling my trunk with literal garbage..

That’s a hard...

For a church organization, the lady in front is very confrontational and rude....... Shorter brown hair. As I was trying to.undersyand the process she told me to just sit down... And would not answer my question or politely say I'm working on something now, I'll be right with you. She was abrupt, rude and not how I would want my organization to be represented. And the first time I went in she literally through a fit with another younger man that worked there, in front of the patrons he was trying to be kind and talk with her but she got to the point where she literally threw a fit and was talking very negative to the young man. Second I have had to use Secor two times.... Both times after eating refrigerated goods I was in E.R with food poisoning. So much of the food is expired and seriously bad quality.... There are other food banks in the area that are much kinder and do not provide such old food. I will say the shopper I had last time was kind and helpful. It is sad that this organization has left such a bad presdion on...