Stone Soup Kitchen's 2025 Annual Report and Thank You Letter

 

January 2026

Dear Friends of Stone Soup Kitchen,

Happy New Year! The biggest news this past year was, of course, our move to Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church on Washington Street in Ayer! It's been a great new home for us, allowing for a much better system for our pantry distribution each Saturday. We got off to a slow start because of the move, but most people seem to have been able to find us! We had another slowdown due to a fire in August, but then we saw quite a surge in the fall during the government shutdown. It mostly seems to have stabilized now, but it has made our yearly stats a bit less meaningful than in previous years.

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Thank you to all of you for your faithfulness this past year in supporting our community through Stone Soup Kitchen. As a reminder, our mission is two-fold: to help alleviate food insecurity and hunger, and to bring lonely or marginalized people together with other community members, helping them to form more relationships across the typical divides that keep people from socializing. We try to remove as many barriers to this as possible, by never asking for ID, proof of residency or income. And we appreciate all of you who continue to support us by giving whatever you can to the Soup, including not just food and money, but also your time, advocacy, and encouragement.

Our Friday night dinners are still the most important part of our mission. Each week, our guests have the option to come early to our social hour, from 4 to 5. We gather to get out of the weather, to talk, do puzzles, and enjoy visits by community members who want to share their expertise, including hair cuts and wellness visits. Dinner runs from 5 to 6, with the last half including our support group. That is optional, and not everyone stays for it, but some people skip dinner and come specifically for that meeting. Our wonderful counselor, Teri, has created a “gateway” meeting atmosphere, from which she can follow up with people who need to go to AA/NA or other more formally structured support groups. We are very happy with the development of our Friday evening community: it's a welcoming place for everyone to gather, and a starting point for those who need more support.

All of the programs that we sponsor are aimed at community-building, and are always funded by a grant or by donations, so that anyone in the community can attend at no cost. We continue to look for good ideas that are sustainable, like our Coffee Bar, which has been extremely successful. We are thankful to the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund for funding this project, which has provided a gathering place for people to come together in good company, sit and visit, and to find out about additional resources that may be of help to them. We were also treated to a benefit concert this year by the Riverside Chamber Players, which was open to all. In this case, it was due to the kindness of the musicians themselves, who donated their own time and talents. Because of the disruption of being in a new place, we concentrated on these few items in order to do them well.

Thanks to a dedicated grant from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, we were also able to support our temporary neighbors at a local immigrant shelter. We stocked a communal kitchen for them on three separate occasions. The fruits and vegetables were most especially appreciated!

Our Saturday morning food pantry continues to be open every week from 10 until noon. You've already heard about the Coffee Bar, but let me also brag about the Cookie Bakers! This dedicated group of bakers make sure that we have fresh homemade cookies to give away each week during our pantry service. During the growing season, we continue to be partnered with the Boston Area Gleaners, the Community Harvest Project, the Ayer Community Garden, Theo's Garden Market, and amazing local home gardeners. All year-round, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank also helps us keep the shelves filled with packaged foods as well as produce. We also have a partnership with Ayer Shop 'n Save grocery store, and along with your help, we have kept the nutritional value of the bags high, even during this time of rising prices. It helps a lot to have friends who tell you when things will go on sale!

Almost nothing goes to waste at our pantry, as our friends who help with deliveries also distribute our excess produce to other pantries further west. Along with the help of our friends who focus on recycling, we have a surprisingly small amount of waste, and have been able to keep helping out other pantries too. This is a point of pride for us, to have as small a footprint as possible, and we are grateful to all who help us recycle food, paper, cardboard, plastic, and even plastic bags!

Unfortunately, we continue to see many people who have found their income stretched by current conditions. We are saddened by the number of folks who are in financial trouble due to a medical problem or a layoff. We continue to make up specialty bags for our guests with special dietary needs and for those who have no cooking facilities. The Ayer Police Department contacts us when they learn of local or transient folks who need emergency food, and we're very grateful for that. We distributed fewer bags of groceries this year, but each one was bigger (and more expensive): they include shelf-stable items, fresh produce, breads, milk/eggs coupons, meat, and specialty items (like coffee, juice, baking supplies, and holiday treats). The homemade cookies are, of course, the most popular part of the pantry fare!

We are so grateful to our community for the donations of food and/or money to buy food, and the physical help in keeping the pantry, dinner, and programs running! Local kids are an important part of our support, through food drives organized by families and the Ayer Community School, gift bags and cookies from the Girl Scouts, lemonade and hot chocolate stands. Many many thanks to the Boston Area Gleaners, the Community Harvest Project, Merrimack Valley Food Bank, the Ayer Police Station (especially for the food drive and the Thanksgiving gift cards), the Ayer Fire Station, National Grid's Ayer office crew, Greater Lowell and the North Central Massachusetts community foundations, New England Grassroots Fund, private grantors, Ayer Shop 'n Save, Bake'N Joy, Catania Oils, Advanced Vacuum Systems (AVS), Theo's Market Gardens, J&S Business Supplies, local Churches, Rotaries, Civic clubs, ICFederal Credit Union, the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health nurses, Pepperell VFW Post, the Ayer Library, The Cannon Theater, West Main Thrift, the Ayer Community Garden and local gardeners, bakers, knitters, food and money donors, transporters, packers, shoppers, servers, recyclers, local musicians, tutors, hairdressers, support group leaders, grocery store workers, and every other donor, both anonymous and known.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, but I probably have. We really appreciate all of you and are so grateful for your kindness, generosity, and faithfulness to the communities we serve. Thank you.

I love you all!

Cyndi Lavin, director

Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries

2025 Statistics and Observations

Total number of bags of food distributed: 4284

Total number of unduplicated individuals served: 195

Total number of unduplicated households served: 77

Average number of unduplicated individuals served per month: 102

Average number of unduplicated households served per month: 45

We got off to a very slow start in 2025 due to our move. The fire in August only closed us for one week. We had an upsurge in the fall, especially during the government shutdown, and now the weekly numbers seem to have leveled back off. The averages reported above are a bit deceptive, because there was a fairly wide swing between the beginning and the end of the year. Although we gave out fewer bags than last year, each bag was bigger, reflecting our new methods of packing.

We are still seeing mostly older guests, many of whom feel the effects of inflation and rising medical expenses.

Like last year, the younger families we see are mostly employed, but have medical issues in the family and/or housing insecurity and/or are single parents.

Only 3 to 4 of our guests are known to be attending multiple pantries and other distribution sites.