There were copies in the library, sure, but they were always checked out and absconded by a kid who understood its worth. Having your own copy meant you could showoff pictures of the world’s largest pancake, the two robust men on tiny motorcycles or my personal favorite, the woman with the world’s longest fingernails. Owning that book made a kid feel like she could take a little credit for these eccentrics’ amazing feats.

It seems no one, especially those with a majority, wants to take credit for the world’s longest government shutdown, now at 38 days. It doesn’t matter how much a family has saved, whether their partner has a job or the opaque promises of backpay, facing a timeline of unknowns controlled by out-of-touch politicians, means no one can be prepared for what a shutdown does. Some federal workers and military service members, along with those who won’t receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, are relying on the kindness of strangers to get by in a time where most have little room to give.

Food banks and non-profits around the state are kicking off their holiday campaigns, finding greater need than usual for this time of year. It’s no longer just about a great holiday meal; it’s about day-to-day survival. Food collection is underway for the Utah Food Bank, United Way, even at the various Teen Centers found around Utah school districts. I recently discovered another option is right in the heart of Ogden: the Weber Fridge.

Once located just off Washington Boulevard and now next to Urban Prairie on 28th Street and Grant Avenue, this pantry offers 24/7 access, no questions asked. It’s clean, spacious and organized, it just needs more donations, I discovered this community connection point while walking the downtown area a month ago. Recognizing how easy it is to donate and how grateful visitors are, it’s become my go-to drop off point not only pantry staples but even dozens of donuts leftover after an event. Being at the Weber Fridge reminded me good people come from all walks of life and their virtue is shown in different ways, including having nothing but making sure others get something.

My daughter and I stopped to stock the pantry for the first time on October 30. She’s volunteered at Catholic Community Services, where her favorite thing was stocking shelves, living out a dream of working at the grocery store. She did the same at the Weber Fridge, organizing cans, stacking boxes of toothpaste and lining up the mac and cheese like she’s Captain von Trapp. Suddenly, about six or seven people lined up behind her, waiting to see what’s on the shelves. The only word I can find to describe the interactions was “care”. These strangers cared for one another as they made sure everyone got food and hygiene products they needed to survive a few nights. No one left empty handed, and no one took more than their share. I knew I would be back.

Since then, I’ve dropped off bits of food two other times, each with different people, different interactions, all filled with grace and care. Detractors may say places like the Weber Fridge take away from organizations doing the same work in a more orderly manner; I found those at this downtown pantry either didn’t have the resources to reach larger services or lacked the proper identification to be allowed in. These are the community members falling through the cracks whether because of substance abuse, mental health struggles or a criminal past. Each one is still a person who needs to eat.

While I’d like to paint myself as a saint, each time I go I check my judgements, the preconceived notions spurred by those in my life who scam and con. “Does he really need this food?” “Why isn’t she at home taking care of her kids?” “Who has been hurt by these people?” I remind myself why I’m there: to make sure people in my community are not starving, that the most basic human needs are met. While I don’t subscribe to the idea of by the grace of God go I, I do believe that by the grace of genetics, family, generational poverty, economic stability and trauma, go I.

According to Utahn’s Against Hunger, more than 24,000 people experience food insecurity in Weber County. Since this figure is from 2020, it doesn’t consider the government shutdown and SNAP lapse as well as the grocery inflation. Beef prices are up over $1 a pound from last year, so says the USDA. Of those who are hungry, nearly 10,000 are children in our community.

Some may say that’s what you get from poor life choices, likely because they feel powerless in the face of failure. Believing it can’t happen to them is the only way they can sleep at night knowing they’re living on a razor-thin margin. I choose not to question why or who, instead going with the fact I can help, so why not?

My mother never bought me the Guiness Book of World Records. I can just hop online to see the crazy, unorthodox ways people make it into the history books. But nothing they do is as shocking as the choice to withhold money and shutdown a government because one side must be right, the other wrong. Nothing is as egregious as neighbor versus neighbor debating who deserves food and who deserves to starve. Sporting the longest nails doesn’t compare to people blaming the unhoused for a country’s downfall while the world record holder for most money will soon be the first trillionaire.

Charity begins at home. The Weber Fridge, Catholic Community Services, high school teen centers, Lantern House, YCC, Weber Cares Pantry and many others are our home.