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| Steven
Harris estimates one in four of his clientele is an elderly
New Yorker. |
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 rmed
with pushcarts, two elderly women and an elderly man join a crowd
of seven outside the Metro Baptist church on a brisk Saturday morning.
In just 10 minutes, the doors will open and the food pantry will
give groceries to the waiting crowd.
Steven
Harris, the trim, bearded man running the pantry, opens the door
and greets the assembled with a cheery "Good morning." He says the
elderly are at least a quarter of its 450-strong clientele. Worse
still, he says they are usually the long-term clients, the regulars.
The rules of the Metro Baptist operation are that a person can come
to the pantry only once a month. After turning away one man because
he had already come earlier in the month, Harris says, "It seems
harsh, but if you make exceptions, we'll run out of food."
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