One truck arrives, one truck leaves, the giving cycle continues

Franklin Food Pantry Receives New Refrigerated Truck from BJ's Wholesale Club, Donates Current Vehicle to Natick Service Council in Powerful Act of Community Support

The Franklin Food Pantry is celebrating two significant acts of generosity that highlight the power of community collaboration. Thanks to a generous donation from BJ's Wholesale Club through its BJ’s Charitable Foundation, The Pantry has received a new, larger refrigerated truck which dramatically increases The Pantry's ability to transport and store food. The Pantry paid forward the donation by gifting its current truck to the Natick Service Council.

The new, donated truck is essential to sustaining The Pantry’s operations. In the past year, The Pantry experienced a 38% increase in demand for hunger relief programs and services. 

"We are incredibly grateful to BJ's Wholesale Club for their generous donation, which arrives at a critical time when the need for food services in our community is rising," said Tina Powderly, Executive Director of the Franklin Food Pantry. "This new refrigerated truck not only improves our operations, and how we serve the community, but it also allows us to pay that generosity forward to the Natick Service Council. Today's celebration is a powerful example of how businesses and nonprofits can join forces to support one another."

In addition to the new truck, the BJ’s Charitable Foundation also donated two commercial cooling units to The Pantry. These units, along with the refrigerated truck, are crucial for keeping fresh produce, dairy, proteins, and other perishable foods from spoiling. Providing access to healthy, nutritious food is a key part of The Pantry's mission, and these items are often the most requested and most costly for families to purchase.

"BJ’s Wholesale Club is driven by a powerful purpose: taking care of the families who depend on us,” said Kirk Saville, Head of Communications, BJ’s Wholesale Club. “We’re proud to support Franklin Food Pantry and have a meaningful impact in the communities where we live and work.”

Upon hearing about the new truck from BJ's, the Franklin Food Pantry knew it wanted to pay the generosity forward. Through the Greater Boston Food Bank, The Pantry learned that the Natick Service Council, a nonprofit which supports individuals and families who are experiencing hardship, needed a new vehicle to help the community they serve.

One truck arrives, one truck leaves, the giving cycle continues

"Like the Franklin Food Pantry, the Natick Service Council has also seen an increase in demand for its services over the past year. We have just completed a project to double the size of our pantry so we can serve all the community members who are facing food insecurity," said Dan Shea, Executive Director, Natick Service Council. " BJ Wholesale Club’s donation to the Franklin Food Pantry created a ripple effect of generosity that resulted in a donation to us. This act shows how one donation can create a positive impact far beyond its initial purpose.”

For more information about the Franklin Food Pantry please visit www.franklinfoodpantry.org. If you or someone you know is experiencing food insecurity, please contact Laura Du, Client Services Manager, Franklin Food Pantry, at 508-528-3115 or email Ldu@franklinfoodpantry.org.

Additional photos of the new truck arrival, and 'old' truck moving on in this photo album (Courtesy of Franklin Food Pantry)   https://photos.app.goo.gl/moDvcK7oZX7Po4k97

About the Franklin Food Pantry, Inc.

The Franklin Food Pantry, Inc. offers supplemental food assistance, household necessities, and resource referrals to more than 1,800 individuals per year. The Pantry relies on donations and grants to purchase items and pay for daily operations, and partnerships with The Greater Boston Food Bank, Spoonfuls, and local grocery stores to achieve greater buying power and lower costs. Programs include Inside Shopping, Curbside Pickup, Emergency Food Boxes, Mobile Pantries, Home Delivery, Kids’ Snack Bags, Weekend Backpacks, Holiday Meals, and the SNAP match at Franklin Farmers Market. The Pantry is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in good standing in Massachusetts, recognized by Charity Navigator as a Four-Star Charity, and awarded GuideStar’s Platinum Transparency ranking. The Pantry is located at 341 W Central St. in Franklin, MA on Route 140. Please visit www.franklinfoodpantry.org for more information.

About BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BJ) is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs focused on delivering significant value to its members and serving a shared purpose: “We take care of the families who depend on us.” The company provides a wide assortment of fresh foods, produce, a full-service deli, fresh bakery, household essentials, various exclusive offerings, gas and more to deliver unbeatable value to smart-saving families. Headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the company pioneered the warehouse club model in New England in 1984 and currently operates 255 clubs and 190 BJ's Gas® locations in 21 states. For more information, please visit us at www.BJs.com or on Facebook, or Instagram

Franklin Food Pantry gets refrigerated units from BJs

Franklin Food Pantry gets refrigerated units from BJs

"How COOL is BJ's Wholesale Club for donating these two commercial cooling units, and our community partners who make it possible for us to provide clients so many food choices?!?

We are grateful!"

Shared from -> https://www.facebook.com/share/1C7kbArfaA/

You can help "Fill the Cruiser" today at BJs, Marshalls, & Raillery - Nov 29 from 9 AM to 3 PM

You can help "Fill the Cruiser" 

via Franklin Police:

Please join us this Friday, November 29 for our annual Fill the Cruiser event.

We will be parked in front of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Marshalls, and the Raillery Public House from 9 AM until 3 PM.

We are excited to fill as many cruisers with new and unwrapped toys, and for the older kiddos, we are requesting gift cards.

Come by, say hi to our amazing officers and help us fill our cruisers.

Our Amazon link is still live as well: https://a.co/86Wf4eE

Shared from -> https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18GkutaAwR/

Town Council reopens hearing to approve the BJs-Pour Richard's transfer, hears of health care expense issue (audio)

FM #1274  This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1274 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council Meeting of Wednesday, Sep 4, 2024.  8 members were present in Council Chambers, Pellegri was absent. 

Quick recap

• A few appointments to close out the annual round of appointments. As announced in the August 14 meeting with the primary set of appointments, a few were in the process of being finalized. This should complete the slate of appointments to renew and fill the open slots for now.

• Public hearing voted to re-open to review the prior BJs & Pour Richard's license transfers. The vote at the June 26 meeting was 6-3 to deny the approval. The denial was not based upon the 2 areas that such a denial could be made, hence the return for a review. Long story short, enough councilors got the message on the legal options and the transfers passed 5-3-1 (Cormier-Leger, Chandler, Dellorco voted no; Pellegri absent).

• Pete Fasciano, Executive Director of Franklin TV provided an update on the operations. 

• The presentation deck can be found ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/10cRsmUL5lpDkpXoeZdsivJ0M2U-FDK98/view?usp=drive_link

• The wfpr.fm Advertising copy ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/10gbRqBrGymDvD7gFwFN6vqhZZCbGmUYB/view?usp=drive_link

• Discussion on Right of Refusal for the Maplegate Country Club property. We can't afford it but will gain some revenue as the deal closes completely since they were "under taxed" and the owners will need to 'catch up'. The Council still needs to accept a resolution to formal pass on the purchase option

• The Davis Thayer Reuse report was accepted by the Council. This will take time for the Council to work through the discussion to set up a possible RFP. 

• Health care issue raised will be part of the budget discussions going forward, have seen increase in 6-8 percent range prior years, anticipated increase of about 13%

Let’s listen to the meeting recording which runs just short of 3 hours.  Audio link ->  https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1274-franklin-ma-town-council-mtg-09-04-24/

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Franklin TV video is available for replay ->    https://www.youtube.com/live/eZ51XEq57_U?si=DnXqGMfyZU1OEX7S&t=89

Agenda doc ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/2024-09-04_town_council_agenda_0_0.pdf 

My notes captured during the meeting and now in one PDF file ->

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojJYhfyLslZxv7XQ8dhevA3R0jMyHcj5/view?usp=drive_link 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Maplegate Country Club