Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Volume 25, Issue 2 August 2017
Food for Thought MISSION Loaves & Fishes’ mission is to provide nutritious food, in an atmosphere of kindness and respect, to individuals in need who reside in Ayer, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton and Shirley. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jim Hanlon, President Andrea Myette, Vice President Don Siegrist, Treasurer James Breslauer, Clerk Lily Baddour, Mary Jo Boynton, Joseph Harrington, Scott Lewis, Aleta Manugian, Mary Markham-Sama, Willie Wickman STAFF Patricia Stern, Executive Director Sharon Cordero, Administrative Assistant Paul Niemira, Food Coordinator Theresa Wilson, Client Advocate Maureen Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator John Cauley, Food Coordinator Assistant
OPEN PANTRY HOURS Wednesday and Friday
9:45AM-12:30PM (Doors open at 9:30AM)
First and third Saturdays of the month
9:00AM-11:00AM (Doors open at 8:45AM)
Second Tuesday of the month 6:00PM-8:00PM (Doors open at 5:45PM)
Closed when Ayer Shirley Regional School District is closed or delayed due to inclement weather. Evenings and weekends call (978) 772-4627 for a recorded message. FOOD DONATION TIMES During all Open Pantry Hours Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:00PM-8:00PM CLOTHING DONATION TIMES During all Open Pantry Hours Monday 10:00AM-12:00PM Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:00PM-8:00PM LOCATION 234 Barnum Road, Devens, MA Mailing address: PO Box 1, Ayer, MA 01432
A Story of Hope
Mary donated to Loaves & Fishes
regularly—she never expected to become a client! Up until a few months ago Mary was doing alright, and then her life was turned upside down. Her husband unexpectedly passed away. She was alone and her fixed income wasn’t enough to pay the mounting bills, yet it was too much to qualify her for food stamps. Her grown son moved in with her to help, but shortly after he lost his job. She didn’t know which way to turn. One day she visited the council on aging and they referred her to Loaves & Fishes. “My experience at Loaves & Fishes was wonderful,” Mary told us. “Everyone was welcoming and kind. I received over $250 worth of food, some from Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Roche Bros. where I would never be able to shop.” Mary is still adjusting to her new way of life, but one constant is the support she has found at Loaves & Fishes. She can count on receiving groceries and a warm welcome each time she visits.
DO YOU NEED HELP? VISIT US DURING OPEN PANTRY HOURS.
NO INCOME REQUIREMENTS!
978-772-4627, x312
WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS WITH OUR STRATEGIC PLAN “BUILDING ON OUR FOUNDATION.” The three major goals are to increase access to food, build awareness and strengthen our systems and infrastructure.
A BIG THANKS TO ALL FOR THEIR ONGOING SUPPORT OF THIS PROJECT. For more information, check out our website.
She didn’t know which way to turn.
LOCAL FARMS AND GARDENS HAVE PROVIDED OVER 16,000 LBS. OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES THIS SUMMER!
Thanks to: Applefield Farm, Gaining Ground, Garden at Church Meadow, Gary’s Farm Stand, Gibbet Hill Farm, Goss Farm, Gove Farm, Community Harvest Project, Kimball Farm, Little Leaf Farm, Littleton Community Farm, Springdell Farm, Stillman’s Farm, Westward Orchards & Whitney’s Farm Stand.
REAL PEOPLE •REAL FOOD• REAL HELP •REAL HOPE Page 2
EVERY donation, no matter how large or small, provides food and hope to your neighbors. Did you know that several local businesses pledged to match donations up to $16,000 during Loaves & Fishes Annual Appeal? It was the most successful annual appeal ever, over $46,000 in donations!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO:
Allen Property Management Acton Medical
Bailey & Smith Construction LLC Bemis Associates
Buckingham Bus Company Catania-Spaga Corporation
Century Carpet & Creative Floors, Inc. Devens Grill
Epic Enterprises Flynn Property Services
Great Road Farm & Garden LLC Hollingsworth & Vose
Hyde & Poor Associates IMEC, Inc.
JK Farnsworth Company Laddawn, Inc.
Lazaro Paving Corp. Leslie Row, LICSW
McNulty & Associates ODIC, Inc.
Reddy Family Dental, LLC Wilson Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.
Loaves & Fishes 4th Annual Fundraiser Golf Tournament Raises $10,500 A big thank you to our co-sponsors, Catania Oils, Maugel Architects and Wilson Brothers HVAC, Inc. We had a great turnout with over 80 golfers participating.
Postal Workers Food Drive Receives Over 18,000 lbs. Of Food
Thank you to our local post offices, Nancy Ohringer-Coordinator, Laddawn for their generous supply of bags, and the many volunteers who supported the effort and to everyone who donated.
Greater Boston Food Bank Presented Loaves & Fishes With A
$10,000 Grant This grant will help Loaves & Fishes defray the cost for the purchase of a walk-in cooler/freezer unit. Thank you for your ongoing partnership!
2017 ANNUAL APPEAL
THANKS TO ALL OF OUR DONORS, SUPPORTERS, PARTNERS & VOLUNTEERS!
YOU HAVE PROVIDED HOPE TO MANY!
YOUR GIFTS HELP OUR NEIGHBORS
REAL PEOPLE •REAL FOOD• REAL HELP •REAL HOPE Page 3
Employees from the Federal Prison, Devens, sponsored a food drive for Loaves & Fishes recently and delivered 1,183 pounds of food! Thank you so much for your support! Mike Gagnon of Bear Hill Farm
in Tyngsboro, MA delivered a donation of 48 lbs. of pork sausage and 220 dozen of free range chicken eggs. Thank you!
Crusader Youth Hockey held a food drive at its annual award banquet and over 213 lbs. of food was collected and donated to Loaves & Fishes. This is enough to feed a family of 5 for one month! Thanks for your support, team!
A GREAT PARTNER! Catania Oils of Ayer recently delivered 11,253 lbs. of food to the Pantry, enough to feed over 26 families of four, three meals per day for 1 month! Thank you to the entire Catania Team for coordinating and participating in this amazing annual event which not only provides food, but also hope to so many of our neighbors.
STOP BY THE PANTRY AND YOU WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE! Work crews from Shriver Job Corps were recently on-site helping us power wash the building, paint, repair exterior trim and reline our parking lot. Our sincere thanks to Tom, the Carpentry Instructor, and Tim, the Painting Instructor, for sharing their talents with us and bringing with them a great crew of hardworking students.
Who new a DUNK TANK could raise so much money for Loaves & Fishes? Lindsay Nelson and Trish Bartlett from Johnson Matthey Pharma Services in Devens, stopped by Loaves & Fishes to deliver a check for $650! The ladies explained that as part of the Johnson Matthey 200th Anniversary Celebration, they "dunked" the executives to raise funds for the Pantry. Great idea! Many thanks to our friends at Johnson Matthey!
Our friends at Fitness Your Weigh in Pepperell just completed their 4th annual Plank-a-thon and collected $780 for Loaves & Fishes. Pictured above are Steve Levesque and Kerry Madden from Fitness Your Weigh and Patricia Stern, Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
CONTINUOUS SUPPORT!
REAL PEOPLE •REAL FOOD• REAL HELP •REAL HOPE
The Neighborhood Food Project is a fun and easy way to help us keep our shelves well stocked throughout the year. WE MAKE IT EASY…
•Each week, you buy just one or two extra non-perishable food items when you go shopping.
•Store the items in our green Food Project bag.
•Every two months, on a pre-set schedule, a Neighborhood Coordinator will pick up your donations, deliver them to Loaves & Fishes and leave another green bag for you to fill for the new pick-up. …IT’S THAT EASY!
Currently we have over 50 active neighborhoods in Ayer, Groton, Harvard and Littleton who donated over 32,000 pounds of food last year!
GET INVOLVED…
•Become a Neighborhood Coordinator—it only takes 1-2 hours of your time every two months!
•Be a neighbor—join the GREEN BAG movement!
•Make it a family activity! Contact John at 978-772-4627x318 or email him at: [email protected].
Page 4
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Dan Knapp of World Turtle Productions, LLC, Shirley, MA, is filming on-site at Loaves & Fishes. Dan has been producing award-winning, short-format educational media since 1995. This project is part of a $10,000 grant received by the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation to produce a variety of videos for volunteer training, presentation and marketing.
9th Annual Littleton Road Race Sunday, September 24, 2017
Fay Park, 20 Foster Street 5K Race and One Mile Fun Run
Proceeds to benefit Loaves & Fishes Interested participants can register at:
www.littletonroadrace.org RUN, WALK OR VOLUNTEER!
EVERY PENNY HELPS!
Thank you to the many local businesses who are hosting our coin collection canisters. Every penny helps! Thanks to the generosity of the community, we have collected over $9,000 during the past three years.
9th Annual Recycle Your Reusables Saturday, October 21, 2017
Ayer-Shirley Regional Middle School 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Bring a donation for Loaves & Fishes Contact: [email protected]
6th Annual Hunger Run 5K Road Race Saturday, October 14, 2017
Nashoba Valley Medical Center, Ayer, MA All Proceeds to benefit Loaves & Fishes
Call 978-784-9202 Email: [email protected]
Loaves & Fishes Thanksgiving Dinner Distribution
Monday, November 20, 2017 Contact Maureen, Volunteer Coordinator
THE GIFT OF YOUR TIME
Volunteers are the energy which fuels Loaves & Fishes!
Our volunteers come from diverse backgrounds but share a common desire to help others. They serve in so many roles. Some work directly with our clients during open pantry sessions while others work behind-the-scenes, stocking shelves, receiving food drives, unloading delivery trucks, picking up donations, helping with community outreach, providing clerical support…and the list goes on!
Our volunteer community works together to provide not only food, but also kindness, respect and compassion for our neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet. Please consider giving the gift of your time. Not only will you help someone in need but you’ll leave with a very full heart.
Attend a Volunteer Information Session and learn how you can make a difference!
Meet Pippi, our newest vol-unteer (pictured with Paul, our Food Coordinator). Ruth Maxant’s goats are doing some “goatscaping” for us to tidy-up our grounds. It takes all kinds of volunteers to keep Loaves & Fishes running.
Ruth can be reached at: [email protected]
Page 5
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
•DRIVER FOR COMMUNITY HARVEST RUN TO
GRAFTON, MA TWICE/MO.
•COMMUNITY OUTREACH
•GROUNDS UPKEEP
•SHELF STOCKING SESSIONS
•NEIGHbORHOOD FOOD Project Deliveries and
unloading
•DRIVERS NEEDED
•HUMAN RESOURCES SPECIALTY
•OFFICE SUPPORT
Data ENTRY
UPCOMING VOLUNTEER
INFORMATION SESSIONS:
Thursday, August 17th—9:30-10:30 AM
Thursday, September 21st—9:30-10:30 AM
Wednesday, October 4th—7:00-8:00 PM
Thursday, October 19th—9:30-10:30 AM
Wednesday, November 1st—7:00-8:00 PM
Contact Maureen, our Volunteer Coordinator at: 978-772-4627x317
or email: [email protected]
Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, Inc. PO Box 1 Ayer, MA 01432
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Ayer, MA 01432
Permit No. 4
Contact Us: Telephone: (978) 772-4627
Visit our website at: www.loavesfishespantry.org
Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter
AYER YOUR BUSINESS could be here!
Ayer Post Office HARVARD
Nashoba Valley Medical Center Connections Physical Therapy (new)
Main Street Bank Harvard Post Office
The Cottage Restaurant LITTLETON
The Markham Group Citizen’s Bank
DEVENS Donelan’s Supermarket
Main Street Bank Main Street Bank
The Natural Café Northern Bank & Trust
GROTON Littleton Police Department
Donelan’s Supermarket Littleton Post Office
Groton Post Office Knox Realty
Groton Public Library Market Basket, The Point, Rte 119
Middlesex Bank SHIRLEY
Main Street Bank Shirley Post Office
Town Hall Hazen Library
Groton Senior Center Main Street Bank
Clover Farm General Store Phoenix Park, Building D
Donation boxes can also be found in many places of
worship in Ayer, Groton, Harvard, Littleton and Shirley.
Thank you in advance for your support!
Collection Box Locations Loaves & Fishes Most Needed Items:
Canned Pasta Coffee/Tea Salad Dressings Canned Chili Juice Cereal (please-no oatmeal) Grape or Strawberry Jelly Pancake Mix & Pancake Syrup Baked Beans Canned Tomato Products Canned Pineapple or Pears Soap Dish Detergent Diaper (size 5 & 6 & pull ups) Poise Pads Feminine Care Products Shampoo/Conditioner Toothpaste & Tooth Brush Ensure Our clients use re-usable shopping bags. Think about making your donations in re-usable shopping bags so that we can provide them to new clients. One more way to support your neighbors!
Has your address changed?
Please email us at:
