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started bringing food by her house and would stop by to give her money to buy things. “We just started asking if anyone needed food to come by, no questions asked,” Ingram says. As it grew bigger, she painted a table with the words “sharing table” to mark the spot. “This is just neighbors helping each other,” she says. Today, 40 to 50 families come on Fridays and leave with fresh food and other items like books, clothes or household items. (They buy fresh food on Friday and distribute donations of milk, eggs, and produce from churches like Canterbury Methodist.) By late spring Ingram had to add more tables and a pop-up tent. Many things have been the result of neighbors pitching in. “When I come home, there are just things out front,” she says. They even had someone leave a picnic table. “If I find out someone needs a microwave, I just asked on Facebook, and by end of day I have three,” Ingram says. In the welcoming environment that’s created people feel free to have conversations about particular needs, and Ingram and friends then work to meet the particular requests using monetary donations. And her family gets in on the efforts too. Everybody has a job. “My son sets everything up and my girls would sort the produce. My little one who is eight years old comes out and gives out
popsicles or cookies while everybody is waiting,” Ingram says. She says she can see a difference in her kids; they don’t even question if they are supposed to give. “A lot of people coming are their friends from school, and they don’t have a feeling of separateness from them—this is what we do and we are all family,” Ingram says. The giving spirit is pervasive among all people. “There have been times when we’ve had two things left and two people there, and they both voluntarily take one. It gives you hope,” Ingram says. Everyone wears a mask and they try to stagger things outside. You can count on them to be there in all kinds of weather too. In fact, when a storm took out their pop-up tent, all the neighbors pitched in and replaced it. Ingram had this to say about her experience with The Sharing Table: “It’s been so amazing to watch how generous and giving people are. I’m really just the middle woman. The community aspect of this just gives me chill bumps just to be reminded of how much goodness there is the world.” The Sharing Table is open every Friday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and families who want to volunteer to help pack and set up from 1:45 to 2:30 can contact Ingram. They gladly accept monetary donation or any items and are particularly in need of diapers, wipes, toilet paper, bread and cereal. To find out more about how to help, visit www. communitysharingtable.com and check out Mary Liz Ingram’s Facebook page for updates. Bham Family November 2020 23
