September is Hunger Action Month! Please read on for articles from our September newsletter for ways to donate to the Greater Boston Food Bank and/or to the Reading Food Pantry.
Mission Moment
We are very excited to let you know about a new program coming soon to the Reading Food Pantry! Thanks to a generous grant from the Greater Boston Food Bank, we were able to purchase a commercial refrigerator, freezer, and range to outfit a kitchen at Old South for our use. Soon we'll be able to make healthy and nutritious home-cooked food for neighbors to choose when they visit the pantry. We'll be able to turn boxes of donated zucchini into zucchini bread, blemished fruit into a fruit salad, and leftover veggies into a hearty soup.
If you like to cook, keep an eye on our Facebook page and website for more information coming soon about how you can get involved in helping us with this new program!
How to Help
Have you used our Amazon Wishlist? If not, consider trying it out: it couldn't be easier to help the pantry stock our shelves with much-needed items! Each month we create a Current Needs List on our Amazon account. We select items that we need in bulk, but make sure that they are listed at reasonable prices so that people who choose our Amazon Wishlist for their donations can quickly shop for what they would like to send. Find our Wishlist on our Facebook page, our website, and in our Patch articles. Browse our most-needed items, select what you would like to send, and the food will be delivered directly to our door.
We continue to have a lot of success with our Wishlist, as many generous residents enjoy the convenience of donating this way. Recently, we switched to Amazon's Baby Registry, which lets us know what items are being delivered and who sent them so that we can send a thank you note. Many thanks to all who use this very easy way to make an impact!
Volunteer Spotlight
Wednesday Afternoon Delivery Program
Two Wednesdays a month if you come to the Reading Food Pantry around 12:30 p.m. you are likely to see a frenzy of activity. Every table in the room is taken up by a volunteer filling a grocery order. Along with filling orders there is plenty of catching up going on as the volunteers have genuinely come to care for each other.
The delivery program began during COVID as a way to reach neighbors in need of food who were unable to come to the pantry in person. When COVID restrictions were lifted we realized that there was still a need to deliver food to many neighbors who were not able to visit due to medical and other challenges.
Co-coordinators Janet Barry and Wendy Liston oversee delivery to 37 neighbors by a dedicated team of a volunteers who call each neighbor to complete a grocery list, come to the pantry between noon and 4:00 p.m. to fill the order, and then deliver to the neighbor’s door.
Volunteers develop a unique relationship with the neighbor that they serve. Many of these relationships are as important as the food that is provided.
"It is so important to support everyone in our community," says Deb.
"I’m retired from nursing and no longer have childcare responsibilities. It was time for me to do something to help others,” adds Peggy.
If you are interested in becoming a permanent volunteer or a substitute for this program, please e-mail us at readingfoodpantry@gmail.com.
Community Spotlight
The Food Drive and Calareso's
Twice a week a friendly volunteer from The Food Drive in Melrose arrives at the pantry door with 6–8 boxes of produce from Calareso’s Farm Stand and Garden Center. The boxes contain heaps of nutritious fruits and vegetables that Calareso’s has generously donated to the pantry. Inside the pantry, volunteers open the boxes to find tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, mangoes, onions, green beans, apples, peaches, zucchini, and many more surprises, and they get to work sorting the produce into bins.
Jana Gimenez, who co-founded The Food Drive with her husband, Tony, began coordinating deliveries to the pantry 1 day a week in 2023 and later expanded to 2 delivery days to help us meet the needs of our neighbors. Jana says:
“The Food Drive is grateful to work alongside the Reading Food Pantry as neighbors helping neighbors! We are a hyperlocal hunger relief and food rescue nonprofit, and our mission in three words is WE DRIVE FOOD. Our volunteers are thrilled to deliver beautiful surplus produce from Calareso’s Farm Stand to the Reading Food Pantry twice a week, just 1.4 miles up Main Street. The best way to end hunger is to start locally.”
We send our grateful thanks to Calareso’s and to The Food Drive for helping the pantry provide fresh produce to our neighbors!
Neighbor Feedback
"[The food pantry] means having food shame free even when our pockets are empty. Kids never have to know the struggle."
—SR
Thank You for Being a Part of This Mission
Every smile, every full bag, and every warm hug—they all happen because of you. We can’t wait to keep you in the loop with updates and stories throughout the year.
