August 26, 2024 newsletter

 

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 event. As you all know, one of our goals is to foster more relationships, so I was thrilled that they wanted to do that...and didn't just talk about it, but actually DID it!

In the meantime, another member of our community did an extremely unselfish thing Friday evening after dinner. We learned that one of our friends, who uses a wagon to do their shopping and errands, had lost a wheel off the wagon and wasn't able to find or fix it. Another friend took it upon themself to find a wagon on facebook marketplace and to go pick it up and drop it off as a surprise. This friend also missed the concert, but I think it was for a very worthwhile purpose ;-)

And finally, the coffee station at the pantry has been going so well and has become so popular that we are thinking about how we can potentially have it year-round. We added Girl Scout cookies, and who doesn't like that? We actually had people who weren't using the pantry come to hang out with friends who were. If you'd like to get involved in this project, please hit me up and I'll put you in contact with the organizers. Same goes for cookies. Our guests really enjoy getting the homemade cookies in their bread bags, and if you'd like to get involved in this, I'll get you in touch with Laurie S, the coordinator.

If you can shop for us this week, we would be grateful for anything from our complete list. I'll be happy to send it to you if you need it or have misplaced your copy. The lobby of the Ayer Police Station continues to be a spot for your drop-offs until the end of the month, as well as at Shop n' Save, hopefully forever! As always, you are invited to leave a note in your bags so that we know whom to thank. 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 too. Thank you all so much for your support and for your love for our community!

Love you all ~
Cyndi