February 23, 2026 newsletter

Good morning (barely) everyone!  It's later than usual for me to get this letter out, but I have a good excuse...Mike and I stayed up to watch the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and mourned that it's over for another 4 years.  Happily though, the Summer Olympics will be along in just 2 years.  And then, of course, this morning we woke up late to Snowmageddon, and I turned over and went back to sleep!

There are a couple of things to tell you about today.  Last week I was privileged to go and speak to the members of St Vincent de Paul in Westford (located at St Catherine's).  Some of the members of the Littleton chapter at St Anne's came too.  These are people who are deeply committed to serving our communities, and it was an honor to share some of Stone Soup Kitchen's history, philosophy, and current operations with them.  I wish I had thought to snap a picture while I was there!

But I did remember to get some pictures when Kim and Mike P came from Lawrence Academy to drop off meal kits that their student volunteers had made!  They call it the "Shared Spoon Project," which I just love.  The students researched recipes, shopped for the ingredients, and put together the kits.  Each bag is a complete meal, including dessert, and is all shelf-stable.  Everyone who came to the pantry on Saturday was thrilled to receive one...there's a meal you don't have to plan!  Pictures are attached.  

In a few weeks, the Trustees of SSK will be getting together to discuss in depth the results from our Partners, Participants, and Allies meeting.  The two topics that received the most votes and input from the meeting are these: 

Expand our facilities or equipment

Expand our mission to additional areas other than food

We're still interested in hearing from any of you who had thoughts but weren't able to attend the meeting, so please don't hesitate to email me any ideas you have, and I will add them to our list.  Even if you think it's something that's already been said, we'd like to hear anyway, because that helps to reinforce what the community perceives as the most important needs.  I sent the full results out two weeks ago, so if you didn't receive that, let me know and I'll send you the pdf.  Thank you to all of you who have participated!

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One Small Thing

Our friend Kathleen gave us a gift for her birthday!  She decided that we should have a really good dinner this coming Friday, featuring something that we normally wouldn't buy due to the expense.  And believe me, everyone is going to be thanking her this week  :-)

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If you can shop for us this week, we will gratefully take anything off of our complete pantry list.  Please email me if you need it.  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   

Stay safe today, and call on a neighbor if you need help with your shoveling.  We don't want any injuries coming out of this storm...I love you all!