The Blessing Table in front of Beth Basile’s Gaston Avenue home. (Photo by Margaret O’Rourke)
Beth Basile puts out a folding table and sign every morning in front of her Gaston Avenue home, alerting neighbors that her Blessing Table is opening.
Fruits, grains, soups, sauces and even toilet paper fill the table for those who need it. Along with it, a sign says, “Blessing Table: Take what you need” in English and Spanish.
Basile started the table April 26 after a man approached her for food.
“If someone has the courage to ask, how many others are out there not asking,” Basile says.
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- A sign asking people to take what they need in English and Spanish. (Photo by Margaret O’Rourke)
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- A donation box on Basile’s front porch. (Photo by Margaret O’Rourke).
Basile had thought about starting the Blessing Table for a while, and she took the encounter as a sign.
People have the opportunity to take food, and others are now donating goods to keep the table full.
She wants people to know they are neighbors, especially during the coronavirus shutdown. She wants people to get what they need.
“I wanted it to be accessible because I know a lot of people may not have a car right now or may not have the means to get down to the food bank,” Basile says.
Basile says she is lucky to live in a home knowing she has food every day, but she knows people, even just down the same street, who do not have the same luxury.
“I have felt helpless, and so this has been a way for me to be able to give back,” Basile says.
