September 18, 2023 weekly newsletter

Good morning!  This is Max, our most satisfied pantry guest, aka "Tina's dog"! Max inspired Tina to keep dog biscuits on hand in the pantry, and we've been told that he starts bouncing with excitement and drooling before his actual owner even turns into the parking lot (hence the towel!). The most important thing to know about Max, though, is that his current family rescued him after he lost his family in Puerto Rico during one of the hurricanes. We have the best pantry guests...many of them are also involved in serving others, paying it forward, and attempting to make the world a better place in any way they can. We are so honored every week to be able to help those who reach out to us, with the help of wonderful people like all of you!

I want to give you all the most up to date information that we have at Stone Soup Kitchen about the influx of immigrants in Ayer. Probably not all of you know about this, and honestly, there is a LOT of misinformation floating around in the various facebook community groups (shocking, I know!). Here's what's facts: The State of Massachusetts contracted with the Nashoba Valley Inn (formerly the Ayer Motor Inn, next to Shop n' Save) to house 150 refugees, around 35 families, mostly with children, and the State will also have a restaurant (unknown which one) contracted to feed them. This means that people who were using the Inn as a place to live were told they couldn't renew when their last week came to an end. The State does not need the permission of the Town to do this, but they unfortunately failed to even let the Town know that it was happening until it was discovered by the new Town social worker. The country of origin of the refugees was unknown last week, and I will not speculate, but as of today, the Town may possibly know.

The impact will be huge, on the schools, the people being displaced, and refugees, and the community as a whole. Unfortunately, some keyboard warriors have taken this event as an opportunity to vent some extremely vile and hateful statements online. Some, who have never lifted a finger off their keyboards to actually help anyone, are yelling about how the Town doesn't care about the homeless and the Veterans, only the “illegals”. As if it isn't possible for us to care about everyone. The second picture I've attached today is the post that will be (hopefully) Stone Soup Kitchen's only response to this crisis in the community. We are perfectly well capable of providing food for all of the people who come to us. By and large, the refugees will be taken care of food-wise by contract, but some will probably seek us out. Those who have been displaced are being told about our services. We will do all we can to keep them fed and to point them in the direction of trusted resources for housing and other services they need.

If you want to help with the refugees or the displaced in ways other than food, you can contact our social worker, Brittany Beaudry, and offer your services. You just might not want to post about it online in order to avoid the trolls if you are thin-skinned like me. Her number is 978-501-3333 and her email is bbeaudry@ayer.ma.us We will be concentrating on food only at SSK, so offers of household goods, housing, and everything else should be directed to Brittany. Stone Soup Kitchen will also be sending food to some of the families that we know about in Leominster who lost their homes last week (what a week, huh?). If you can help us to keep our shelves stocked, we would so appreciate it. This week we are looking for the following items, and would prefer low salt/sugar varieties whenever available: canned chicken, canned corn and canned beans (no other canned vegetables please), whole grain spaghetti pasta and other shaped pastas (no lasagna please), small boxes of plain instant potatoes (we're getting rid of the foil packets with the flavors), ramen noodle packets, and 1 lb bags of dried beans (any type). We'll be at the pantry on Wednesday from 10 to noon, Friday from 4 to 5:30, and Saturday from 9 to noon for drop-offs. And the bin is always available at Shop n' Save if those times don't suit. Please leave a note in the bag with your name so we know whom to thank! Thank you so much to all of you who give and help out

I had planned to tell you more about the upcoming changes in our pantry bags, but I'm going to save that for next week because this other matter has been more pressing. I just want to let you know that you'll see a change in the items I ask for each week, and also to let you know that when we have to buy food, our very own Bemis Associates in Shirley has awarded us a grant which will help towards making up the difference! More about all that next week!

I pray that you are like me, and are able to count your blessings this week. If you need help, please reach out to us!