November 13, 2023 newsletter

 

And just like that, it's cold! I hope you all had a good weekend. Mike's and mine was filled with trying to get caught up on sleep. I know, terribly exciting 😊 Mike spent the week in San Diego and was supposed to get home on a red-eye early Friday morning, take a nap, and then come to dinner that evening. Then, after a great night's sleep, he planned to help me in the pantry on Saturday. Well, modern travel...you can guess how that went! He did get home in time to help on Saturday.

Stone Soup Kitchen really had a great weekend though. We all enjoyed each other's company at the Friday evening dinner, and then while the pantry was open on Saturday, Debbie E and Melanie P ran the monthly Crafts Gathering. One of the things they worked on was beautiful greeting cards that we could put in our bread bags over the next few weeks. There are some pictures attached of what they made. They scrambled to make some before we even officially opened so that we could start passing them out. The pantry was very busy, and our guests were so happy to receive the bonus Thanksgiving bags that Lin M and her son Vinny put together, thanks to your donations, and also to receive a gift card for their turkey from the Ayer Police Union. Do we have a great town and great supporters, or what?

We've begun to see some more interest in our “healthy alternative” pantry bags! This makes me really happy, because they were pretty much a big failure when we first tried them over a year ago, so much so that we dropped them. We only started them back up last month, and we now have several families that prefer them. In addition, you probably remember that we are transitioning to more healthy “regular” pantry bags as well. I know it's been difficult to find some of the lower-sodium and no sugar added items that we've requested, but switching to as many of these as possible is collectively making a difference in the overall health of the shelf-stable products we pass out. As the local gardens and farms are put to bed for the winter, we will have to buy more and more of our produce each week, but fresh produce is a really important part of our overall plan for the pantry too, and we'll continue to get as much fresh and frozen (as needed) vegetables into people's hands as we can, rather than low-nutrition and high-sodium canned ones.

If you can shop for us this week, we are especially in need of canned tuna, small jars of jelly or preserves (especially low-sugar ones), canned pasta like spaghetti-os, and toilet paper. I know, I know...canned pasta isn't healthy! That's right, but we have to strike a balance between health and practicality sometimes. Becky J has the complete new list clipped to the bin at Ayer Shop n' Save, or I can email you one if you shop elsewhere and need it. If you want to help with Thanksgiving, monetary donations are the thing this year, or you can purchase a grocery store gift card for any amount. 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 or with your gift card, with your name, so we know whom to thank!

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, I want you to know that I am extremely thankful for all of you!