May 12, 2025 newsletter

 

Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, especially after the rain moved out on Sunday. It was a glorious day, and I hope that you all had a chance to enjoy some time outdoors. I was very outdoorsy yesterday...I sat on the porch and read! It was really lovely.

We'll start with the good news! As of last Tuesday, the Boston Area Gleaners were 85% of the way to their spring fundraising goal! Thank you so much to any of you who donated to them. There are so many pantries and meal programs besides ours that they support each growing season, and as I've mentioned before, the excess that they send to us is shared with pantries even further west, thanks to our friends Alison and Rich who do the deliveries each week.

Because of maintenance issues, EBT cards were not able to be used the last weekend of April. These are the cards that are used by SNAP (food stamp) participants to pay for their groceries. That may in part explain why we had such an extraordinarily large number of people that weekend, including many new guests. Our numbers have stayed higher, though, than last year at this time, and I think we're now settled into our new normal so that we have enough fresh items on hand each week.

And now, unfortunately, some sad news: For the last 10 years, a unique nonprofit grocery store called the Daily Table has served 3 million customers in Boston, Cambridge, and Salem neighborhoods. Most of the people who worked at these grocery stores came from the neighborhoods as well. I have been aware of the program for many of those years and am a big fan of their model. But now they have made the heartbreaking decision to close:

“In the last 90 days, a lot of federal programs that have supported food relief, hunger relief, farm to table have either been frozen or cut,” Rauch [Doug Rauch, founder and board chair] said. The biggest federal funding shortfall, according to Rauch, was to the Double Up Food Bucks. “That’s where people can come into our store who are SNAP recipients and get fresh fruits and vegetables for half price,” he explained. “Which has been a phenomenally successful program.”

I truly hope and pray that this is the last organization that is devoted to food insecurity that we will see shutter its operation. I'm very grateful to all of you for helping to keep us debt-free and able to serve our communities. Thank you, you've been very generous.

If you can shop for us this week, we will gratefully take any food off of our full pantry list. Let me know if you need the list! 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

Have a wonderful week, and remember that you are loved!