voices of the reserve
WUMCO Help : Always ready and able to lend a hand in the community
By Adam DeBaugh , Assistant Executive Director
I
am from New York City . What do I know from farms ? When I retired and moved to Montgomery County ’ s Agricultural Reserve , I was elected to the Board of Directors of WUMCO Help , Inc ., the Western Upper Montgomery County Help . WUMCO serves the western part of the Agricultural Reserve , the towns of Poolesville , Boyds , Barnesville , Beallsville , and Dickerson and their environs . Soon after joining the board I was appointed Assistant Executive Director , working in the office , serving first with Catherine Beliveau and now with Executive Director Katie Longbrake .
When I first started working with WUMCO I had two big surprises . The first surprise was the amount of need there is in our service area . As a city boy , I wondered why people needed food in a farm area . The five towns in our service area comprise about 18,000 people . We have over 20 % of the county ’ s land area but just 3 % of the county population .
Our service area also has a higher percentage than the rest of the County of elderly people , young people , and people on disability . We have many people who are in need of the food and financial assistance WUMCO provides . The second thing that surprised me is the incredible generosity of so many people in our service area . WUMCO has never had to buy food to meet the food needs of our clients . Financial contributions have always met the financial needs of our clients as well .
Our History
WUMCO Help was founded 52 years ago in 1968 by Jane Stearns , her friend Beulah Harper , and her husband Fred Stearns . WUMCO operated out of the Stearns ’ home rent free until 2015 , when we moved into rented space in the Family Life Center of Poolesville Baptist Church , our first time paying rent .
In 2016 we started our first membership campaign which has grown each year in members and financial donations . Thus far in 2020 we have over 400 members , who donated close to $ 170,000 .
What WUMCO Help Does
While we are primarily known as a food pantry , we provide many other services to people in need in our five towns .
We provide up to 150 pounds of food once a month to each household that requests it . The community has been so generous that unlike other food pantries , WUMCO has never had to buy the food we give out . Local churches , organizations , farmers , and individuals have been extremely generous and seldom does a day go by without food being brought by the office . Drs . Pike and Valega have built a small pantry in their parking lot on Fisher Avenue where people can drop food off for collection and delivery to WUMCO . We mostly have non-perishable food but also have two large refrigerators and four freezers for fresh and frozen food . Our food coordinator , Jeff Sypeck , fields calls from clients , interviews them about their needs , food allergies , food likes and dislikes , and the number of children in the household . He then creates a food voucher and sends it to the office for our volunteers to fill the order . People in our five towns can call the WUMCO number at 301-972-8481 , ext . 3 , to talk to Jeff and place a food order .
In addition , we provide three areas of financial assistance . First , we have a sum of money for each client to pay for household and auto expenses — rent / mortgage , utilities , home and auto repair , insurance , etc . Second , we have funds to pay for medical expenses , including prescriptions at the CVS in Poolesville , doctors ’ co-pays , insurance , and medical procedures . Third , we provide a minimum delivery of home heating oil or propane once a year . People in our five towns can call the WUMCO number at 301-972-8481 , ext . 2 , to talk to Katie or Adam to discuss their financial needs .
Last , WUMCO provides transportation for our clients to doctors ’ and social services appointments by our roster of volunteer drivers . Our transportation
plenty I autumn harvest 2020 47