Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries

  Good morning! Have you noticed that there's more light every day? Even on days that are overcast, the extra light in the evenings helps my mood, for sure. One thing that doesn't help my mood, though, is the latest assessment of food insecurity in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which I've linked to below. For as educated and wealthy as our state is, this is shameful. Up to 40% of Massachusetts households have experienced food insecurity over the past year, many due to the rising cost of living in general. In our county, Middlesex, it is up by 11%. That pretty much lines up with what we are seeing...new families (4 this past Saturday) and more working people. I have posted the TL;DR version on our blog, and the link to the full article is there too. https://stonesoupkitchenministries.blogspot.com/2026/04/massachusetts-food-insecurity-is.html Now for the good news...and we are thankful that there is almost always at least some good news to share! We have a ...

  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 features cheeseburger and sausage bake, 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 som...

When you think you can't do anything to help anyone...take heart and plant a tree, real or metaphorical

The TL;DR version of a recent article.  Link at the bottom. Some 40% of Massachusetts households, or 1.12 million people, experienced food insecurity at some point over the past 12 months, according to a report released Tuesday by the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham.  Households experiencing food insecurity on average said they needed an additional $500 monthly to meet their basic expenses. The report found 46% of food insecure households had trouble paying for heat and electricity, and only about one in two households had stable housing. Nearly eight in 10 adults living in food insecure households had at least one chronic medical condition, such as obesity, diabetes, dental or gum disease, cardiovascular disease and mental health issues. Among those who had to forgo care, 67% reported skipping prescriptions and 40% skipped dental care. In food insecure households with children, 21% of people reported times when their child couldn't access medical or dental c...

Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach to all who celebrate, and to everyone, enjoy the reduced price chocolate this week!  We had a fairly small pantry service on Saturday, because I believe that many people assumed we'd be closed.  Hopefully they were able to get all they needed the week before.  Have you seen the prices in the grocery store lately?   There are some things to catch you up on this week, which are all good news, and are only the beginning of the results from our January Partners' Meeting.  Our first quarterly contribution to the Ayer Library has been made, to help them supplement the food they keep on hand for unaccompanied teens who come after school.  We feel this is an extremely important step for us, a way that we can extend our partnership with the Library and serve more of the population that wouldn't be necessarily coming to us.  The Library is a safe space for teens after school, and we feel very good about supporting them....

  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 features ham, mac+cheese, 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 up. Email any ...

Good morning all!  I truly hope you had a great weekend.  It was colder than I was hoping, for sure, but all over our yard and throughout town, I see the signs of spring.   Our friends Cindy and Angela prepared the potluck dinner for everyone last Friday!  It was delicious, featuring a chicken and a vegetarian lasagna with a terrific white sauce.  The dining room was full!  If you are interested in getting involved in this potluck, just email me back.  We can always make room for more friends! I was going to share with you about the results of our Board meeting and which activities/areas for service we decided to expand into, but I'm still waiting on the input from a few people, so that will have to wait until next week.  However, that doesn't mean that we haven't already launched into a couple of initiatives that we all agreed on.  We are moving forward with several partnerships, including with the Ayer Library, some of the area churche...