Monday, April 12, 2010

an update from the Franklin Food Pantry

Do you know a friend or family member who is struggling in this economy?  A recent USDA report shows that more than 200,000 households in Massachusetts lack consistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food.  Here at the Franklin Food Pantry, we distributed over 45,000 lbs of food to more than 1,000 clients since October 1, 2009 (averaging 62 lbs per household per month).  We have seen our number of regular clients increase by 28%.
During the holiday season, we were able to feed more families, children and seniors thanks to our generous community, who donated more than 25,000 lbs of food and more than 200 monetary donations.  We believe our donations increased this year due to our new central location – Thank you Rockland Trust!   We are fortunate that more than 74 volunteers joined us to help us sort, check dates and stock our shelves with these community donations.  To help us accommodate such generosity, CVS volunteers helped us build shelves and makeover our storage room (a “move that bus” moment was shared by all!). 
We were able to accomplish all of the above during a very difficult economic period that we know will continue into 2010. Unemployment remains high and there are many people still struggling to secure enough nutritious food to feed their families.
Good food nourishes the body and the spirit. With regular, nutritious meals, we are free to grow, to think, to smile, to live.  In 2010, we will expand our capacity to provide our clients with a wide range of opportunities for gaining access to local, fresh, nutritious food.  We are excited to announce our partnership with Tangerini’s Farm in Millis (139 Spring St) to offer fresh produce to clients from June through October.  Please visit http://www.tangerinisfarm.com/  to learn more about our Food to Share CSA program and consider making a donation to help make fresh and local produce accessible to everyone.  We are grateful to our volunteer Heather for working with Laura Tangerini to help us create this exciting local program! 
We hope to learn with you, our community, the many elements of nutrition, food systems, local resources and to explore the questions, “What is food?” and “Where does our food come from?”
Volunteers and food donations are always welcome.
Thank you for making a difference.

Anne Marie Bellavance, Executive Director
Franklin Food Pantry
43 West Central Street
P.O. Box 116
Franklin, MA 02038-0116
Telephone: 508-528-3115

hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 1pm


This was originally posted on the Franklin Food Pantry website here:
http://www.franklinfoodpantry.org/



Franklin, MA

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