August 11, 2025 newsletter

 

Good morning all! I have a lot to tell you about again this week, and most of it happened without my help :-) Once more, I am full of gratitude for the amazing people that volunteer at Stone Soup Kitchen, and for all the generous community members who took care of everything this past week. And I mean that they took care of EVERYTHING, because I had covid and was out of commission for the entire week.

During that time, volunteers packed up everything for Saturday's pantry, served dinner on Friday evening, delivered everything that needed to be delivered, ran the food pantry and the coffee bar, removed and replaced a freezer that decided to die (thank you so much!), ran an amazing food drive, delivered it, and put away everything from the food drive. I can't thank all of you enough for taking care of everything like you did, but I'll try: THANK YOU ALL!

So, the details on the food drive: On Saturday, August 9, the Rotary Club of Ayer, Shirley, Harvard, and Devens sponsored a "Fill a Cruiser" event, along with the Ayer Police Department and the Shirley Police Department. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too hot for a change, and the results were truly inspiring! Our thanks go out to Ayer Shop 'n Save too, for allowing the group to use their parking lot. A large crowd of Rotary members were joined by Ayer PD (Sgt John MacDonald, Officer Jacob Noll, and Dispatcher Mark LeBel), Shirley PD (Sgt Robert Romilly, Officer Emily Vincent, and K9 Gemma). Special thanks also to Lin, Jane, and Scott, who helped unload at the pantry, and then put every single piece away before they left for the day.

Pictures from the event are online, as there were too many to send through an email. Also, there are links to each of the organizations that participated there: https://stonesoupkitchenministries.blogspot.com/2025/08/fill-cruiseror-two.html

We are so grateful to the community for coming out to support this effort. It comes in the middle of the 5th Annual Ayer Police August Food Drive: during the month of August each year, the Police Station collects canned and packaged foods for Stone Soup Kitchen in their lobby. Since the Station is open 24/7, this is an extremely important event each year, which helps get our pantry through the food drought of each summer.

One Small Thing
This week, I want to highlight One Small Thing done by our friend Kyndra. She is involved in an online group and became aware that there was a couple in it that she didn't know, but who were in great need of food and diapers. So she bought some and had it all delivered to them anonymously.

Keep doing those Small Things! They mean a lot. And send them to me to share with others to uplift and inspire them as well!

If you want to shop for us this week, there is really only one thing that we are in great need of right now, and that is adult diapers. We have multiple families who are caring for aging parents or other family members, and they are in need of small, medium, or large adult diapers. 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, and of course during August, you can also drop off at the Police Station. 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

Thank you all for your support this month...it means everything to us! I love you all