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A local potluck and food pantry. We get together, we share food, and we talk!

The story of "stone soup" exists all over the world. In my favorite variation, a hungry traveler appears in a village with nothing but an empty cooking pot, a spoon, and his appetite. When the suspicious villagers will not show him any hospitality, he sets up his cooking pot in the village square and begins to boil water with a simple stone in it. As the curious townsfolk pass by and ask him what he is doing, he stirs the pot and tells them that he is making stone soup. Further, he explains that at the end of the day when the soup is ready, everyone will be welcome to come and share it with him. Eventually, one person ventures that the soup might taste better with a few onions. Soon the villagers are each bringing a couple of carrots, a potato, a little salt, whatever they have on hand to add to the stone soup. At the end of the day, the whole town shares a delicious pot of soup (minus the stone, of course), and they have also learned a valuable lesson about the joys of shari...
Recent posts

May 18, 2026 newsletter

  Good morning! Welcome to summer, a month early. It would have been nice to have a little more spring first, but... Recently several people have asked for information about our wonderful cookie bakers, so I'd like to profile them this week. Our friend Laurie S coordinates all of the bakers, who sign up when they want to, with no obligations for baking more than they want. Laurie has an online system for sign ups, and people who've chosen to bake that week bring their cookies to her house on Friday or early Saturday, and she packages them up safely in boxes for us and drops them off to the pantry. This is a great way to volunteer with us for people who prefer to be behind-the-scenes, so to speak. We absolutely adore our bakers, who bring such joy to our guests at the pantry and sometimes at the dinners too! I've told this story before, but for those who are new to our mailing list, we've had people actually cry when they learn that they are receiving homemade ...

Friday Social + Potluck, Friday Support Group, + Saturday Food Pantry

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located in Shepherd of the Valley Church on Washington Street in Ayer. **For Friday dinner, you must park in the lot off of Newton St and walk up to the first blue door unless you are disabled** For the Saturday food pantry, please come to the parking lot on Cambridge St. It is open from 10 to noon. * * * * * 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 features chicken cordon bleu casserole with 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, sa...

May 11, 2026 newsletter

  Good morning! Whether or not you've ever been a mother or father to a child of your own, I bet almost all of you have served that function in the life of another person – physically, emotionally, or spiritually – so I just want to take a moment to thank all of you for the love that you have poured into others over the years. What you do for others truly makes a difference. There are only a few things to catch you up on this week. We received a bag of sandwiches from Alltown Fresh on Saturday morning, and they were an extremely welcome addition to our Coffee Bar. Despite the rain, we had visits from many of our beloved friends and were able to give them something nutritious for lunch. Thank you to Chef Samantha and Alltown Fresh, and thank you to our faithful volunteers Nicole, Hunter, Connie, and Atlas who pick up produce and sandwiches for us each Saturday morning! * * * * * One Small Thing We got a start on our call for seeds through two donations this past week! ...

Friday Social + Potluck, Friday Support Group, + Saturday Food Pantry

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located in Shepherd of the Valley Church on Washington Street in Ayer.   **For Friday dinner, you must park in the lot off of Newton St and walk up to the first blue door unless you are disabled** For the Saturday food pantry, please come to the parking lot on Cambridge St. It is open from 10 to noon. * * * * * 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 features make-your-own tacos with 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 l...

May 4, 2026 newsletter

  Good morning good morning! Every week I think that there will be nothing to tell you in the newsletter, and every week there are new people who enter our lives as well as old acquaintances who pop up to say hi and to do something nice for the community. Make sure you check out One Small Thing below...it's really sweet! To start, Ayer Community School, with whom we share the building, did a food drive for baking supplies for us in the month of April. I've attached a picture of what they left for us last Wednesday. Many of our pantry guests are just thrilled to get Baking Bags from us so that they can add some joy to the lives of their children (and spouses, and friends...). Thank you, ACS! Next, we were given a really interesting suggestion during our Partners' meeting in January, and we've decided to give it a go this growing season. Our friend Rachel K thought it would be good to offer to pick up excess produce from our gardening friends around our area, a...

Friday Social + Potluck, Friday Support Group, + Saturday Food Pantry

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located in Shepherd of the Valley Church on Washington Street in Ayer. **For Friday dinner, you must park in the lot off of Newton St and walk up to the first blue door unless you are disabled** For the Saturday food pantry, please come to the parking lot on Cambridge St. It is open from 10 to noon. * * * * * 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 features grilled bratwurst, cheese and potato casserole, 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 n...

We have a wonderful new food partner!

Many thanks to Alltown Fresh for inviting us to be a Food Partner in Ayer! Pictures will follow, once we get started! ❤️