2006

2007

All photos by Steve Jessmore

Elaine Crane, 82, and husband Ralph Crane, 87, have been volunteering for two decades feeding the hungry in Flint, Michigan. They pick up excess food from an area supermarket that has short shelf life and make an 18-mile journey throughout Flint, delivering it to various charities.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh those lazy bums can’t help themselves.’ They don’t realize, especially right now, things are getting worse, it looks to me like, anyway. Do you get the idea we enjoy what we do when we can help just a little bit?” Elaine says.

Ralph’s had a stroke and I’ve had just about everything taken out of me that you can have taken out, but it’s not stopping us. If more people would do just a little bit of something, we’d be so much better off.”

I came across this photo and caption and was not prepared for what I saw. I guess what really messed me up was the pained look on her face. The image and what it meant knocked me out of my chair. When I got back up, and looked at the photo again, I wondered how in the hell I was supposed to dismiss this. Like so many other news stories and photographs I come across, 9/11, layoffs, murder, death, natural disasters, national tragedies, it’s easy to turn the page.

But not her. Just look at her.

Here she is, trekking all over the city delivering food to charities that feed hungry people and yet she clearly is in dire need of help herself. She looks like she can barely walk.

And it’s winter. Michigan winter. It’s a freezing, cold, mind-numbing hell. Yet there she is, ignoring her own death like an african lion ignoring a fly. Neither can apparently be bothered with such idle curiosities.

Are these people, like Mr. & Mrs. Crane – who are completely invisible to us – the reason our society can exist? And is it because there are so few people like them we are in the shape we are in today?

“If more people would do just a little bit of something…”

‘A little bit of something?!?’ I thought. I stared at her face again. Twenty years of “little bits of something.” I wonder what it adds up to? It’s incomprehensible, so don’t try. Twenty years.

So many lives they must have touched. How many children have they helped feed? Children who grew up and had a chance to get out of poverty and make something of themselves. Do these people know Mr. and Mrs. Crane even exist?

I stared at the photograph again. I think she’s standing in a doorway, perhaps that very supermarket, waiting to carry food back to that van so she can deliver it where its needed. I can see her now, struggling; ever carry a case of canned food? It weighs as much as she does. I desperately want to run into that photo and help her, tell her she’s done enough already. I want to apologize to her on behalf of our pathetic, worthless society that needs a tired, elderly woman to do its charity work.

But I can’t run in to help her. It’s just a picture… I stare at it one last time.

And right there, this 82 year-old woman has shown me just how absolutely irrelevant the rest of us are.

Here’s the press release:

Kildee Announces Nearly $2.8 Million in Housing Grants for Genesee County

CDBG and Home grants will help revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) today announced $2,764,797 in funding for Genesee County through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The County has been awarded $1,925,896 in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and $838,901 in HOME grants, both of which work primarily to provide decent housing to low income individuals. “This is very good news for our area and for families in Genesee County.  This funding will help revitalize our communities and ensure that families, regardless of income, are able to obtain decent, affordable housing,” said Congressman Kildee. The HOME program funds a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership or provide direct rental assistance to low-income people. CDBG funds a wide range of programs, focusing primarily on the rehabilitation of affordable housing and the construction and improvement of public facilities. These projects also provide economic opportunities for local residents.

# # #

Kildee Helps Secure SAFER Grant for City of Flint: $6.766 million grant expected to allow city to rehire 39 firefighters

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced that he has successfully helped the City of Flint secure a $6.766 million grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire… and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program. It is expected that this will allow the city to rehire 39 firefighters. Earlier this year, Congressman Kildee wrote to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the grant, requesting that the grant be awarded to the City. And at the Congressman’s urging, Dr. Edward Montgomery, the White House Auto Communities Director, also urged FEMA to award the grant to the City. This grant was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which passed the House of Representatives on February 13, 2009 with Congressman Kildee’s strong support.

“I am extremely pleased that I was able to help secure this extremely important funding for the city of Flint. This grant is expected to allow the city to rehire 39 firefighters, putting people back to work while helping keep us safe,” said Congressman Kildee. “Firefighters’ honorable service and willingness to put themselves in harm’s way protects our homes, communities and families on a daily basis. This grant is extremely good news for Flint and I am proud that I was able to bring these funds to our community.”

The SAFER grant can be used for up to 100 percent of a firefighter’s salary for up to two years.

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling states fires were ‘premeditated attack’ on community.