October 28, 2024 newsletter

 

Good Monday morning to you all! We had a busy but satisfying week and weekend, and I hope you did too. A couple of our pantry guests asked if they could pick up groceries for friends or family members who were having a tough time. One had just lost everything in her apartment to a fire. Like most people, she didn't have adequate insurance for a catastrophic loss like this. I don't know about you, but when I was living in an apartment, I didn't have ANY insurance. It just never occurred to me, and honestly, even if it had, I doubt that I could have afforded it. I was simply trying to eat and keep the heat on. For several long cold months, there was no heat and barely enough food.

Your generosity helps keep others from having to make some of those hard choices, so thank you all!

I have a few stories to share with you this week. I've been saving them, because once we have one “coincidence” story, I know there will be others that follow (you all know by now that I don't believe in coincidences!). Sometimes we are offered “strange” items that are outside the purview of a food program. Most of the time, I try to suggest better places to take those items, but sometimes I just get a feeling about them. It started a few weeks ago when our friend Laurie S offered to make kits for people to grow sprouts on their kitchen counter. This isn't strange, because it certainly has to do with food, but it certainly was different, and we were unsure whether or not people would be interested. Well, they were! People were delighted! Laurie had thoughtfully included instructions, and that seemed to reassure everyone that they could do this, and the jars disappeared.

Next, in order, we were offered a set of dishes by our friend Brent D and a large box of over a dozen pair of children's soccer shoes by our friend Kim P. These are not things we would normally take, but I knew where we could send them if none of our guests wanted them. Guess what? Our guests wanted them and they're all gone!

Then we were offered some sleeping bags by our friend Sheila C, finally something that we do always keep around :-) We have friends who sleep outdoors or in their cars, and there are folks who pass through Ayer from time to time, thanks to the freight trains, whom we can share these with. We probably won't have them for very long!

By the way, this is not a plea to give us strange things! Most of the time, I'll be happy to tell you what organization would like your items.

There's more to tell you about, like our trip to Stonefield Farm in Acton, but this is getting long, so I'll save it for next week! If you can shop for us this week, we are particularly in need of canned beans (any type except for green beans), canned pasta, baked beans, jelly, and pudding cups. 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!

Be well this week, and thank you all for your support and love!