February 17, 2025 newsletter

 

Good morning to all! I hope you all had enough books and snacks to see you through the nasty weekend. Mike decided to go out sledding in our front yard yesterday, and he needed some hot chocolate when he came back in. I was tempted to go with him, but I slipped on ice last week and tore up my knee, so that was off the table. I had enough books and snacks though!

We have an exciting event this Wednesday: we're going to buy and deliver our first installment of pantry supplies for the communal kitchen at the migrant shelter. You may remember that we received a grant specifically to do this (thank you, Greater Lowell Community Foundation!). If you are interested in helping with this, please let me know...even if you can't go this Wednesday, there will be more opportunities in the coming months.

I've got some other news to share with you, some good, some not so much. The good news is that we learned about our year end totals from Boston Area Gleaners, the folks who grow, gather, glean, and otherwise provide fresh local produce to us each growing season. We received 19,122 pounds of donated produce in 2024. That was 786 cases (all of which Alison + Rich schlepped for us!). We were often given overages, because A + R have developed a network of small pantries and meal programs to the west of us who could take the excess. Thanks to the faithfulness of all involved, the produce found homes far beyond where we could normally reach each weekend.

Did you know that there are people right here in our community who have lost their job recently due to the governmental purge? This is terrible news on several fronts. The Institute that does research for Bank of America just reported that from what they can see in their customers' aggregated account activity, somewhere around 25% of households are living paycheck to paycheck. Some reports have that percentage higher, but even this conservative number is frightening. Obviously, job loss puts people, especially working class families at greater risk of not being able to pay all the bills. You can read about it here if you'd like:
https://institute.bankofamerica.com/economic-insights/paycheck-to-paycheck-lower-income-households.html

The second part of the bad news is that the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) has reported that eviction filings have surpassed pre-pandemic levels for over two consecutive years (August 2022 to September 2024). This means more than 2600 eviction filings per month! I know you can see how job loss right now would be a tremendous mental, emotional, and physical burden on a singleton or a family. Part of what we do each weekend is to spend enough time with each guest to learn if there are additional resources they need that could help them in their individual situation. Although we are only physically providing food, part of being a relational organization is to help people get in touch with other folks who can help them in other areas.

Do you know someone who needs help? You could come and get some food for them if they find it too difficult. Or come with them to help them. Getting food from a pantry frees up that money to pay a different bill, but sometimes people don't think of that, or they are too embarrassed. No one needs to be, but we understand, and we try to make it as painless as possible to visit us.

If you can shop for us this week, we are low on a few items: boxed instant potatoes, ramen noodle packets, baked beans, canned pasta, 18oz containers of oatmeal, and jelly. We can take drop-offs at the pantry (through the gray door next to the parking lot on Cambridge Street) on Wednesdays from 10 to noon, Fridays from 4 to 5, and Saturdays only from 9 to 10. Please note that these are shorter hours than before, because of parking logistics. Please do not leave food at the door outside of these hours. 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! We are located at 21 Washington Street, Suite C, Ayer MA 01432

Stay safe and warm, and carry on!