Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries

Good morning everyone...yawn, stretch, try to get back on track...stoopid time change! I love having more light in the evening, but my body just hates the time change. Anyway, I hope you all had a good weekend and are looking forward to some milder weather this week! At SSK, we are moving ahead with our plans to form more partnerships in order to serve more people. This week and next, we have several meetings with organizations that also have the space and the desire to sponsor workshops, classes, meet-ups, and the like. Many of you know that in the past we have held these types of meetings in the building where we were located. That was fine, but we tended to mostly only see the same people that we were already reaching. We would like to help even more of our community to expand their relationships across the typical divides that can keep people from socializing (and help with their food needs, if necessary), so we are continuing to look for two things: Like-minded businesse...

Good morning, and happy beginning of meteorological Spring!  Under all that snow, wonderful things are happening, but in New England we know that there's more to get through before Spring comes for real real :-) I had a slightly different plan for this letter today, but late last night I came across the title of an article from Psychology Today that immediately caught my attention.  "We've Lost the Spaces that Foster Friendship."  I believe most of us are already aware of that.  For decades, people have been pulling back from joining clubs and other organizations, from church membership and from bowling leagues and community choirs.  Covid made it much worse, and so many of us retreated into our own little worlds, helped along by online "communities."   These gathering spaces outside our homes are called our third spaces (first = home, second = work), and there are fewer of them all the time.  When the great withdrawal began, lots of third spaces ...

Good morning (barely) everyone!  It's later than usual for me to get this letter out, but I have a good excuse...Mike and I stayed up to watch the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and mourned that it's over for another 4 years.  Happily though, the Summer Olympics will be along in just 2 years.  And then, of course, this morning we woke up late to Snowmageddon, and I turned over and went back to sleep! There are a couple of things to tell you about today.  Last week I was privileged to go and speak to the members of St Vincent de Paul in Westford (located at St Catherine's).  Some of the members of the Littleton chapter at St Anne's came too.  These are people who are deeply committed to serving our communities, and it was an honor to share some of Stone Soup Kitchen's history, philosophy, and current operations with them.  I wish I had thought to snap a picture while I was there! But I did remember to get some pictures when Kim and Mike P cam...

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located in Shepherd of the Valley Church on Washington Street in Ayer. Please park in the Newton Street lot and walk up to the first blue door on Washington Street. Dinner is open to ANYone who wants a good hot meal and some company...no need to bring anything but yourself unless you want to! From 4 to 5, we are open for those who want to get together and socialize in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our open support group, which runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week our potluck with feature a smorgasbord with various dishes, dessert, juice, coffee, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. Come to the parking lot on Cambridge Street and follow the arrows. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some up. Emai...

Good morning everyone!  Last week was chock full of the Olympics for Mike and me.  I love watching much of the world coming together to celebrate excellence in sports.  I know that not everyone is as thrilled by the sportsy-ball stuff (To quote my grown children! Whose are they, anyway?) as we are, but we just love every minute of it. In other news, Stone Soup Kitchen has also been celebrating the excellence shown by our Partners, Participants, and Allies.  When I sent out the list last week that we generated at our meeting in January, I didn't know that some people were going to take that as a challenge!  While the board of trustees of SSK will be deciding what major directions we will be following, several people looked at the smaller things on the list and said to themselves (I'm imagining...), "Heck, I can do that right now."  Thus we ended up with special treat bags for the Super Bowl and also themed bags for Valentine's Day!  So a special thank ...

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located in Shepherd of the Valley Church on Washington Street in Ayer. Please park in the Newton Street lot and walk up to the first blue door on Washington Street. Dinner is open to ANYone who wants a good hot meal and some company...no need to bring anything but yourself unless you want to! From 4 to 5, we are open for those who want to get together and socialize in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our open support group, which runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week our potluck with feature maple syrup chicken drumsticks, various sides, dessert, juice, coffee, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. Come to the parking lot on Cambridge Street and follow the arrows. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some...

Hiya hiya! I miss you all when I'm gone for a week! I hope you are all doing well, and that you have been able to avoid house and health-related problems during this stretch of snow and extreme cold. I have a lot to share with you today, and most of it is included in a pdf (if you are reading this online and wish to see a copy, please leave a comment on this blog post with your email address...it will not be posted!). This is the result from our meeting in January with all of you, our Partners, Participants, and Allies. It's not too late to weigh in on any thoughts you have for us. If you were able to attend the meeting, you might notice that I didn't include the topic of "Keep some money liquid and wait for the crash" on the report. That's because we are fully aware of how important it may end up being, for us to have ready funds available, and that is already a part of our plans. Other things to share this week: we received a report from the Boston Area ...