November 10, 2025 newsletter

 

Good morning friends! We have officially entered “stick season,” with most of the leaves down now. Personally, I don't mind winter, but I was hoping that fall would last just a little longer. However, even though the leaves have failed us, the community has not! We are so grateful to all of you who have reached out to support our neighbors during this unsettled and uncertain time.

We had another very busy weekend at dinner and at the pantry. Our Coffee Bar has become an important fixture at the pantry too. Coffee and a donut don't necessarily solve anything, but they certainly don't hurt anything either! We are really thankful to our rotating crew who have been taking care of the coffee each week and providing a listening ear: Cher, Nancy, Kim, Lauren, and Timmy. Many of our neighbors enjoy sitting down with these folks each week.

We have an event coming up where we will need some help if you'd like to volunteer. On Sunday, November 23rd, the Ayer Police Department is going to do a one-day food drive for us in the Ayer Shop 'n Save parking lot. It will last from 10am until 1:00pm, and we need some people to help unload the food over at the pantry just after 1:00. If you can help, please email me back and I'll send you details and directions. And thank you in advance!

We are also extremely grateful to the Ayer Police Union, because they have once more provided funds for us to purchase gift cards for Thanksgiving turkeys (or hams, or whatever!). This is the perfect way to let our guests choose their own holiday treat! For the side dishes and fixings that our friends will need for a great Thanksgiving meal, Lin and her son Vinny collected the funds and put together bags to go with the gift cards. Thank you to everyone involved, including our friend Jeff from the Ayer Fire Department who delivered all of the bags! And that leads us to...


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One Small Thing
When Lin and Vinny went shopping (picture attached), she reported: “The woman at the store was crying with joy when she heard about this and gave us a few dollars to put towards it. Just wonderful people around. She helped us out to the car with the carriages too!”
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If you can shop for us this week, there are a couple of items that we always seem to run low on: peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, baked beans, 18 oz containers of oatmeal, and instant potatoes. 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 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

I love you all...thank you so much for keeping Stone Soup Kitchen going!