Alan Newman tells of how he was raised with a philosophy to help those around him whenever he can and that was how a person should be.
While running the Judah Food Bank, this philosophy of his has persevered especially during a year in which many residents may have needed assistance the most.
Because of Newman’s efforts throughout the pandemic and his everyday way of helping others, he has been chosen as the Cordell Beacon and Great Plains Bank Person of the Year.
Newman was born and raised in Cordell and has helped his parents run the food bank ever since they opened it up in 2001.
In earlier years, Newman helped his parents with duties related to the food bank and their thrift store but he officially took over the food bank six years ago after his father suffered medical issues.
“[My dad] had a small stroke and it kind of left him to where his memory wasn’t right,” Newman said. “It was basically a moment of, okay here's my time, I’ve got to jump in.”
Now 46 years old, Newman divides his time between his main job as a truck driver alongside operating the food bank and Thee Thrift Store with the help of his crew.
Newman’s efforts in running the food bank have benefitted many residents during the pandemic as Newman worked tirelessly to secure boxes of food from the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank. All Washita County residents were eligible for these boxes, regardless of income.
“There were no guidelines involved in those [boxes]. We were able to get them and pass them out to anybody, so I would order as much as we could handle at the store,” Newman said.
Newman said they began this program by going through 800 boxes of food in about thirty minutes. While figuring out logistics on how to best manage the line of cars was difficult at first Newman and his crew were able to get the ball rolling after some time The final evening of distribution there was a line of cars about a mile long.
“We just flew through there,” Newman said. “Once we figured out our rhythm it just went so awesome!” Though the special pandemic program has ended, the food bank continues to operate and help those who are eligible to shop there.
With more than 195 families being served, Newman continuously works to stock it so that customers can get what they need. “We just try to get as much as we can to each person that comes through,” Newman said. “Usually, if you come through, depending on the size of the family, you may end up with groceries that would have cost around $200 at the grocery store.
Although Newman is in charge of the food bank, he acknowledged that he couldn’t do it without the help of his family, friends, and volunteers of the food bank.
“The volunteers are just like family to me, I’ve known a lot of them for so long. If it weren’t for all of them there would be no way we could continue going like we do,” Newman said. Growing up, Newman said he’d always worked odd jobs and helped people whenever he could. Nowadays, however, when he’s not working he enjoys spending as much time as he can with his wife Lana, his two older sons Andy and Ethan, and his youngest daughter Nataly.
“We love to fish. Nataly and I would get bored and that was one of the ways we got up,” Newman said.
In the end, he said he’s grateful to have been chosen as the Person of the Year though he was surprised that anyone would have thought about ever nominating him for it. “I really appreciate whoever came up with [naming me Person of the Year]. That's just not something I ever thought about,” Newman said. “I was raised this way, and I just don’t see any other way a person's supposed to be. You're supposed to help your neighbor and help anybody you can.”