July 24, 2024 newsletter

 

Hello and happy Monday everyone! What a wonderful weekend, with relief from the worst of the heat and humidity, but still hopefully enough warmth for you summer-lovers! We had a very busy weekend and will need to do a lot of regrouping and packing this week to make up for it. No new emergencies this week, unlike last, so we're grateful for that.

We had a visit from our friends Olivia and Hannah from the Ayer office of National Grid last Wednesday. They helped us get everything ship shape in the kitchen and dining room, along with putting out new table top decorations. It looks so nice...thank you very much for your help! If your workplace is looking to partner with a local service organization like ours, please reach out. There are lots of creative things that we could do together. For example, we've noticed how people who are waiting in line for the pantry will often get out of their cars and visit with each other. Lin M got the brilliant idea to offer coffee that folks can help themselves to, and we're going to give it a try. Are there any coffee purveyors out there who would like to get involved with this?

I believe that my season of grant-writing is over for a bit. I've been looking for some additional funding for food as we've been slowly falling behind due to the increase in food costs and pantry use. Now I'm just waiting to hear about most of them. I mentioned back in May that we were seeing more and more first-time elderly guests. This is a heartbreaking situation for people who should be able to retire after a lifetime of work without these stresses and fears. Please help us out, if you can, with a few extra items when you go shopping. If something is on sale, it doesn't matter if it's on our weekly list or not! We all appreciate you so much.

If you are able to shop for us and help us out, we will soon have a new spot that you can drop off if you'd like, at least until the end of August. Yup, the Ayer Police Station is holding a food drive for us again, the 4th annual! Thank you to John MacD and Chief Brian G, and to all of our friends in dispatch that arrange this each year. There will be a Shop 'n Save cart in the lobby for your drop-offs, and as always, you are invited to leave a note in your bags so that we know whom to thank. As usual, 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.

I love you all! Thank you so much ~ Cyndi