LAKE COUNTY— The unsung and humble hero of Lake County is surely Lorrie Gray.
After nearly 20 years with the Hunger Task Force, Gray’s friends and cohorts celebrate the important work she’s done to promote healthy living and eating.
“Some people would say they would give the shirt off their backs, but in Lorrie’s case it’s the food off her table or out of her garden,” Tammy Alakszay said.
The task force recently disbanded, but Gray’s work is woven into the fabric of the region.
“Let no one go hungry,” was the Hunger Task Force motto.
Gray didn’t just feed the people, she taught them to plant, collect seeds and can food.
“Lorrie always helped me in giving food to the hungry in Lake County. When I was Program Director for Catholic Charities and we had monthly food box distributions in both Kelseyville and Middletown, which still exist to this day, Lorrie always came to assist in filling boxes, cleaning up the debris, doing anything needed to make the program thrive,” Hedy Montoya said.
Gray has left a footprint of food growth and distribution all over the county.
According to Cindy Leonard of Cobb Mountain, Gray was supportive of the Cobb School Garden.
“I remember talking with her about the importance of teaching the students about seed saving,” Leonard said. “She gave us a bag of seeds she saved and the seeds were in various vials and recycled containers. It was a beautiful way to show our students that you do not need to go to the store and buy seeds. You can save them yourself. It was a wonderful lesson in food self-sufficiency.”
Maile Field hosted a Hunger Task Force garden starting in about 2001.
She had extra vegetables that fall. This evolved into a decades long collaboration.
Field provided soil and water. The task force did the rest. Field said everything was always well weeded and neat. They weighed the produce and kept a log of it. Field was consistently amazed at the sheer volume of food they produced and distributed. She watched them grow carloads of tomatoes and more zucchini than is natural. “Also butternut squash up the wazoo and cucumbers. She got mad at me for planting flowers out there. I remember her saying, ‘what a waste,’” Field said. “Lorrie was a storm of her own making. She would show up and not stop moving while she engaged me in conversation. She would pull weeds, curse at leaky irrigation systems and her vocabulary for the raccoon she couldn’t catch would make you blush. Once she caught a skunk by mistake in the raccoon trap. I won’t incriminate anyone by saying what happened there but she managed to keep it from stinking up the neighborhood. Her appetite for tomatoes and cucumbers and squash was insatiable. And if we had extra pears or apples or peaches, she found homes for them. Normally we can’t allow people in the orchard on ladders because of the liability but with Lorrie, she always found a way to make it work. I will miss seeing her in her dorky hat out in the garden.”
Gray has impacted and inspired many in Lake County while doing her good work for the hungry.
Annina van Voorene said Gray taught her how to can at the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church. “Lorrie possesses, and is very generous with the knowledge and skill she has accumulated over the years. The non-profit I founded, Any Positive Change while having a different mission, has incorporated addressing food scarcity into our services, not only as a social justice issue, but as part of Lorrie’s legacy. I am grateful Lorrie gave so much to Lake County and to the issue of addressing hunger. “
Ellen Karnowski took her canning class at the Presbyterian Church in Kelseyville and said it was a great experience. “The class was a great refresher on the actual practice of canning and I still use the cookbook I was provided. We also received a water bath pot, along with a jar holder, which really comes in handy. She was a friendly and caring provider of services. She really wanted to help as many people as she was able to,” Karnowski added.
Gray is very much an advocate for the hungry.
“I attended an early food summit and remember how quickly she put down someone who wanted to figure out how to keep folks from coming to food programs more than once a month. She was not a ‘food cop.’ All who were hungry were welcome,” Montoya said.
Gray is well rounded and curious, often traveling and hiking. She’s ventured to the Galapagos Islands, camped in fire towers, became a disaster expert, mastered HAM radio and flew remote control planes. Lake County can be proud to call this gem one of its own.
