October 7, 2024 newsletter

 

Good morning friends! After such a beautiful weekend, it's a bit startling (to those of us who have sworn off the news temporarily) that it's raining today, but my crispy-critter plants seem to be quite happy about it.

First and foremost, all of us at Stone Soup Kitchen need to take a moment and say a special thank you to Bob B, the pastor of Living Water Fellowship. Bob is stepping down from the pastorate and won't be on our board or working with us anymore. Bob is responsible for SSK being located at Living Water Fellowship in the first place. He invited us to take up residence there in 2019 when I was passing out dinner from the back of my Jeep. A year later, he encouraged me to begin the process of establishing SSK as a separate 501(c)3. He has given us wise counsel at our board meetings, and has continued to be a personal friend, even when we disagree. I hope that you all can understand what an impact it had on the development of SSK to have a home that gave us access to a kitchen, a dining/activity room, a standup shower, a pantry, and several storage closets. We would not be the organization we are today without his support. We all pray for his health and success in the years to come.

Last Wednesday morning was “Coffee with a Cop” day at AllTown Fresh. I saw a bunch of you there and also got to connect, albeit briefly, with some of Ayer's and Harvard's finest. We were able to discuss what shelters there are for singles and families that have beds (answer, none local...people have to travel to the Boston area, Worcester, or Lowell to find spaces), and we also spent a bit of time just chatting about local events. We at SSK appreciate them so much, and we love having this good working relationship where we can get food to those who need it through this other pipeline.

Speaking of coffee, come and join us at the coffee bar at Stone Soup Kitchen on the first Saturday of each month! We tried it out for a few weeks and have decided that it is a LOT of fun! You don't have to be using the pantry to come and grab a cuppa, and to enjoy chatting with Debbie E, Lin M, Sue C, and any of our neighbors who drop in. There is parking against the building, out of the way of the pantry line, and we recently found pods at the food bank, so there will be a much greater selection of drinks. We're also thinking about hot chocolate as we enter the cooler months. If the weather is lousy, the Kitchen will be open for gathering. Put NOV 2 nd on your calendar now!

I got a wonderful announcement from our friends at the Nashoba Associated Board of Health nurses, that they have received funding, both from a grant and an anonymous private donation, to keep the Grief Counseling meetings going! I have heard from several of you that you've found these sessions to be extremely helpful, and I'm thrilled to hear it! We had talked about adding grief counseling to our programming, but once I learned about this opportunity, it seemed silly to reinvent the wheel when we knew that our friends would do a fantastic job. You can go to see them every 3 rd Tuesday of the month at the Ayer Library. There are other meetings around the area, and they are all listed here:
https://www.nashoba.org/calendar Scroll down a bit to find them.

The last thing I want to tell you about is that our beloved hospital, in spite of all the misinformation floating around the facebook community groups, is not dead. There is plenty of work going on behind the scenes that can't be discussed in detail at the moment, but let me reassure you of two things: there are people who care and who are in a position to actually do something about it. In the meantime, please continue to make noise...make those phone calls and send those emails and letters to the State. Send polite, friendly letters to our local Reps with your stories and information that they can use in fighting for us. Join a protest if that's your thing. Don't let the State believe that the passion will go away. One of the biggest impediments to getting a bidder for our hospital is that none of those who were interested were willing to work with Steward (can you blame them?). Therefore, it had to get way worse before it can get better. That's a tough pill to swallow, and I know that we all feel abandoned, but keep praying, keep writing, keep calling. And please believe that your local boards and representatives are working very hard. Pray for them too.

If you're still reading, lol...if you can shop for us this week, we will gratefully take any food items from our full list that you might find on sale. If you need the list, please let me know. We are also low on some basics like spaghetti pasta, baked beans, canned fruit, and coffee. 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!

I love you all...have a wonderful wonderful week. Or two!