February 9, 2026 newsletter

Hiya hiya! I miss you all when I'm gone for a week! I hope you are all doing well, and that you have been able to avoid house and health-related problems during this stretch of snow and extreme cold.

I have a lot to share with you today, and most of it is included in a pdf (if you are reading this online and wish to see a copy, please leave a comment on this blog post with your email address...it will not be posted!). This is the result from our meeting in January with all of you, our Partners, Participants, and Allies. It's not too late to weigh in on any thoughts you have for us. If you were able to attend the meeting, you might notice that I didn't include the topic of "Keep some money liquid and wait for the crash" on the report. That's because we are fully aware of how important it may end up being, for us to have ready funds available, and that is already a part of our plans.

Other things to share this week: we received a report from the Boston Area Gleaners, outlining the amount of fresh produce that we got from them this past year. The fabulous part about this is that we were able to send our excess to yet more pantries because of our amazing volunteers. The only waste was the occasional carton with some rot, and even that could be composted! The Gleaners sent out 3.1 million pounds of food this year, and here was our portion:

Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries received a total of 23,313.44 pounds of donated produce in 1,515 cases from Boston Area Gleaners from Jan. 1 2025 to Dec. 31 2025. Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief agency, establishes a value for donated food on an annual basis; for 2025, this figure was $1.90/lb. Using this metric, the total value of the gleaned produce we received from Boston Area Gleaners in 2025 was $44,295.54.

For all of that, our membership cost $435!


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One Small Thing
Some students from The Groton School who have been joining us regularly for our dinners, along with their terrific teacher-liaison, made chocolate dipped strawberries to share with all of us last Friday! We're going to miss them when the term is over!
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If you can shop for us this week, we will gratefully take anything off of our complete pantry list. We are particularly low on some items for our Friday snack bags that go home with our guests: pudding cups and granola bars. 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

Much love to all of you on this cold New England day!