Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located at Living Water Fellowship in Devenscrest, Ayer. It 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, do puzzles, or play games in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our support group. The open support group meeting with Teri T runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week, the potluck will feature spaghetti alfredo casserole, various sides, dessert, juice, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some up. Email any questions to stonesoupkitchenministries @ gmail . com (remove the spaces) or leave us a private comment here. ANYone i

  Why is there a wagon in this newsletter? Read on to find out... What a great and glorious weekend we just had! Not only because of the weather, but also because of the heart-felt human interactions that we witnessed. Yes, we are still under the cloud of uncertainty due to the imminent closing of our local hospital, and yes, divisive voices still rage in the media and in our social feeds. But let me share with you some stories this week that will hopefully lift your spirits and give you hope...one relationship at a time. We may not have the power to fix the whole world, but each of us can make our little piece of it a bit better! Our Friday dinner group decided to go out together to a free Concert on the Commons in Shirley. As soon as dessert was finished, they carpooled together out to see a country rock band. I ended up not being able to join them because there was someone who needed a little more help on Friday, but I've had a couple of reports that it was an extremely fun

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located at Living Water Fellowship in Devenscrest, Ayer. It 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, do puzzles, or play games in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our support group. The open support group meeting with Teri T runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week, the potluck will feature meat loaf, various sides, dessert, juice, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some up. Email any questions to stonesoupkitchenministries @ gmail . com (remove the spaces) or leave us a private comment here. ANYone is welcome...no que

  Good morning friends. It's with a heavy heart that I write to you today and report that the last chance public hearing concerning the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be held this evening. The first one, in-person, was an exercise in frustration as it became evident almost immediately that the Department of Public Health was merely there to check off a box: “Public hearing #1...check!” It's likely that the virtual hearing tonight will be even more frustrating, but I don't feel we can give up. The residents of 16 towns are being impacted, not to mention even more as the ripple effect moves outwards to Leominster, Worcester, Lowell, and beyond. I have been sending letters, calling, and generally making a pest of myself with every political and news contact that I have. If you care to read the letter, it is here: Living in a Healthcare Desert Here is the information on the meeting this evening: Monday, August 19, 2024, 6:00 PM. Members of the public and othe

  I did not choose to speak last night, because I felt that the many who did covered everything that mattered very well. Here is the letter that I sent to the governor and commissioner of public health today: *****   My name is Cyndi Lavin, and I'm the director of Stone Soup Kitchen, a hot meal and food pantry program located in Ayer. We serve anyone, from any town, with no questions asked. I am an extremely privileged person. I have a car, a partner in life who also has a car, a roof over my head, food on my table, and the ability to drive somewhere else to get medical care. Not so with all of my friends who come to join me for dinner and to get groceries. Those who come on foot to pick up their groceries also go on foot up to the hospital for medical care. There is no public transportation in this area to get to another hospital. They don't have enough money for groceries, so they certainly don't have the money for an Uber. Going by ambulance is obviously for emerg

  What a glorious weekend! I hope you were all able to get out and enjoy it. For Mike and me, it continues today and tomorrow, as we've both decided to take a couple of days “off” to celebrate our 40th anniversary. That means that right now, I'm doing SSK paperwork and he's writing a recommendation letter lol. But when we're finished with those tasks, the work is being put away and we're going to go enjoy this beautiful day. I have a few updates for you. First, the next major meeting concerning our local hospital is at Devens this Thursday evening. I've attached the flyer for you here. The word has come down too that the buyer for Holy Family Hospital has fallen through, so that now makes 3 of the 8 Steward hospitals that are in danger. If you need more information on this situation that Nashoba Valley Health Center is in, please refer to my newsletter from last week with all the links.   Second, an update on the coffee stand at the pantry. It has

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located at Living Water Fellowship in Devenscrest, Ayer. It 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, do puzzles, or play games in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our support group. The open support group meeting with Teri T runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week, the potluck will pulled pork, various sides, dessert, juice, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some up. Email any questions to stonesoupkitchenministries @ gmail . com (remove the spaces) or leave us a private comment here. ANYone is welcome...no questi

  Stone Soup Kitchen opens at 4 pm on Friday evenings, located at Living Water Fellowship in Devenscrest, Ayer. It 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, do puzzles, or play games in the dining room. The potluck dinner is available from 5 to 5:30 followed by dessert and our support group. The open support group meeting with Teri T runs from 5:30 to 6, if you'd like to stay for it after dinner. This week, the potluck will feature tacos, various sides, dessert, juice, and some extra snacks to take home for the weekend. Our food pantry is open every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, same location. If you need food, or KNOW someone who needs food...please come pick some up. Email any questions to stonesoupkitchenministries @ gmail . com (remove the spaces) or leave us a private comment here. ANYone is welcome...no questio

  My letter to Governor Maura Healey this morning, concerning Nashoba Valley Hospital. I'll be glad to share the email and phone numbers with whomever wants to help:  ********* “Because the current funding for Steward during its bankruptcy is running low, and Massachusetts won’t advance the $30 million it’s committed before sales agreements are signed, Lopez said he had no choice but to approve the closing of Carney and Nashoba Valley by Aug. 31.” From the Boston Globe On a personal note, I cannot accept the scarcity mentality that is willing to give up these hospitals. Don't tell me that there's nothing you can do. One thing I've learned from my work at Stone Soup Kitchen's hot meal program and food pantry is to operate in abundance: when more people come, you build a bigger table. You don't shut down the program. As someone who voted for you and believed in you, I am astonished for the second time. First, the Leominster Birthing unit was allowed to c