Hi Team – Following the Thanksgiving weekend Your Stroudwater Food Pantry had a light Sunday with 34 families served for a total of 109 people receiving groceries. 4 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 495 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 2,561 lbs.  This week’s volunteers included Anne, Adam, Jenn, Michael C, Steve, Karlene, Ellen, Terry, Angie and myself.   

What’s Happening:

Thank you Demetria and Dennis for your donation of a new freezer to the Stroudwater Food Pantry!!  It is much needed to meet our current frozen food storage demands, and much appreciated. Our new freezer is up and running and ready for our Friday pickup.  Thank you Demetria and Dennis!!

And special thank you to our Friday team who picked up, delivered and processed 1¼ tons of food this past Friday.  God bless you all!! — Doug

Hi Team – Your Stroudwater Food Pantry had a very busy Sunday with 52 families served for a total of 136 people receiving groceries. 12 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 491 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,626 lbs.; plus the Westbrook Hannaford donated 36 “Give a Meal” boxes weighing 324 lbs.  We received a donation of 16 frozen turkeys and also 50 Thanksgiving dinner baskets, all of which weighed in at 2,350 lbs. The total weight of all food received was 4,524 lbs., meaning more than 2 ¼ tons of food was processed by SFP volunteers this past weekend.  Volunteers included Anne, Adam, Jenn, Sheamus, Michael C, Steve, Karlene, Mike Halkiu, Ellen, Bobby, Tammy, Terry, Angie, and myself.

What’s Happening at SFP – 

• Thank you Westbrook Hannaford for making what has been their second donation this month of cardboard boxes (36) filled with dry store/can food meals.  It’s part of their $10 Give a Meal program where shoppers pay for the boxes which are then donated for hunger relief.
• Thank you Maine Marathon Committee for donating $5,000 to the Stroudwater Food Pantry.  MMC raises large sums of cash for a variety of children’s charities like Dream Factory of Maine, the Maine Children’s Cancer Program, and also for Alzheimer’s research.  We will use their donation primarily to meet monthly expenses for dry store foods, but also for infrastructure items like much needed shelving in the storage room.
• Thank you Cheverus High School for donating 50 Thanksgiving dinner baskets, complete with large frozen turkeys and all the trimmings to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner.
• Thank you Mike Curran for donating 16 frozen turkeys (which we made into additional dinner baskets).

Thank you Volunteers who on Friday handed out Thanksgiving dinner baskets to people who otherwise would not have had a Thanksgiving dinner.  Over the course of the weekend  a total of 76 Thanksgiving dinner baskets were distributed!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! – Doug

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry had another busy Sunday, serving 48 families for a total of 153 people supplied with groceries.  8 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 476 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,667 lbs.; purchases and donations came to 342 lbs. for a total of 2,009 lbs. of food processed for the week.  Volunteers included Adam, Rob, Michael C, Judy, Steve, Karlene and myself.

This week we received an unexpected gift from our Hannaford Supermarket in Westbrook; they donated to us an entire pallet load of cardboard boxes filled with dry store/can food meals!  It was part of their $10 Give a Meal program, and the food is purchased and donated by Hannaford customers.  We received over 50 boxes!  We plan to use these over the Christmas holiday to augment our Christmas giving to the community whom we serve.  Thank you Hannaford!

What’s Next –

• This week has been a blessing of food donations!  Our church family alone donated over 100 of dry goods; primarily the peanut butter, pasta, spaghetti sauce and cereal that keeps our doors open.  Thank you church family!!
• This week our good friend Mike Curran stopped by with a generous donation of pasta and spaghetti sauce.  For those of us who know him, Mike has been one of our faithful outside benefactors, regularly supporting the Stroudwater Food Pantry since our earliest days. Thank you Mike!
• The Health Source Chiropractic Center on Brighton Ave. is currently conducting a food drive on our behalf, collecting can food and other dry stores for SFP through the end of November.  Thank you Health Source!
• My Space Yoga in Stroudwater is starting up a food drive on our behalf next week, continuing through mid- Dec.  Their focus will be can food and other dry stores for SFP.  Thank you MSY!
• As we approach our 2^nd Thanksgiving at SFP, we have again been selected by Cheverus High School to receive 30 Turkey dinner baskets to provide thanksgiving dinners to selected families.Our dinner give away is on Friday Nov 18^th, and we are seeking volunteers to assist us on that Friday to help with the distribution.  Please reply if you can help your Stroudwater Food Pantry give away Thanksgiving dinners!
• For the past week Scott McIlwain of Charter Communications (formally Time Warner Cable) has been shooting video and conducting interviews for a forthcoming community news spot about the Stroudwater Food Pantry.  SFP and the work we do will be featured in a 5 minute segment on the TWC-TV Your Magazine show (channel 9, but only if you have Time Warner Cable).  It could start running as early as next week, I will let you know the schedule for air time once I have it.  Additionally, they will be sending me a link to watch the show online; the online version will be available for everyone to watch.  When I get the link I will send it along, and post it to our blog site as well.

Thank you everyone who has made it their personal mission to, “Do the work of Jesus by feeding those in need, and reducing the number of food insecure within the Greater Portland Community.”  !!   – Doug 

Hi Team – This weekend your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 33 families for a total of 130 people supplied with groceries.  9 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 454 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,555 lbs.; purchases and donations came to 80 lbs. for a total of 1,635 lbs. of food processed for the week.  Volunteers included Adam, Jenn, Lois, Michael C, Mike Halkiu, Sheamus, Anne and Wayne and Martha Lopez.

We had a lot of volunteers this week, despite having a few people out or away.  Thank you everyone who stepped up in support of your Stroudwater Food Pantry! — Doug

Thanks to everyone who helped out with our latest fundraising effort – Paws for the Pantry! Thank you Maine Dog Magazine for your article and showing up at our event to support out fundraiser. Thanks to all our canine friends and their owners who came to walk around Back Bay to raise money and awareness. First of many, so if you missed out, join us for our next event….

Paws for the Pantry Dog Walk

Paws for the Pantry Dog Walk

48 families served, 9 new.  438 families now registered. Hannaford pickups + purchases & donations yielded 1,634 lbs. of food.

Hi Team – This weekend your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 48 families for a total of 148 people supplied with groceries.  9 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 438 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,604 lbs.; purchases and donations came to 30 lbs. for a total of 1,634 lbs. of food processed for the week. Volunteers included Adam, Jenn, Steve, Lois, Judy, Michael C, and myself.

Whats Next – 

Next Saturday October 8^th we are hosting the first annual Paws for the Pantry dog walk in Portland, as a fund raiser supporting hunger relief, benefiting SFP.  The event will be held at Payson Park, entering just off Baxter Boulevard at the Portland Back Cove.  We walk rain or shine, and walkers and their dogs will walk the Back Cove Trail (3.2 miles)  There is $20 Registration fee, official registration is 9am-10am (although we will open the registration desk for early arrivers), with the starting whistle for the walk at 9:15.  Late comers will depart on their own thereafter. Volunteers get in free, and we are looking for help to support the event, so please respond if you would like to help!

Thank you everyone who volunteered this week in support of your Stroudwater Food Pantry!    — Doug

Hi Team – This weekend your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 41 families for a total of 130 people supplied with groceries.  5 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 429 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our Shaw’s food pickup and two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,447 lbs.; purchases and donations came to 1,191 lbs. for a total of 2,638 lbs. of food processed for the week. Volunteers included Wayne,  Adam, Jenn, Sheamus, Steve, Karlene, Lois, Judy, Mike H, Michael C, Terry and myself.

Whats Next – 

Next Saturday October 8^th we are hosting the first annual Paws for the Pantry dog walk in Portland, as a fund raiser supporting hunger relief, benefiting SFP.  The event will be held at Payson Park, entering just off Baxter Boulevard at the Portland Back Cove.  We walk rain or shine, and walkers and their dogs will walk the Back Cove Trail (3.2 miles)  There is $20 Registration fee, official registration is 9am-10am (although we will open the registration desk for early arrivers), with the starting whistle for the walk at 9:15.  Late comers will depart on their own thereafter. There is parking on site and port-a-pottys along the route.  Volunteers get in free, and we are looking for help to support the event, so please respond if you would like to help!

Thank you everyone who volunteered this week in support of your Stroudwater Food Pantry!       — Doug

Hi Team – Sunday was a great day at your Stroudwater Food Pantry, we served 41 families, with a total of 105 people were fed.  A whopping 14 new families joined us this week, taking us to a new total of 411 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,403 lbs. of food processed for the week. Volunteers included Steve, Adam, Jenn, Angie, Michael C., Laura, Tammy, Martha and myself.

Thank you everyone who volunteered this week, and who helped us welcome 14 new families to the Stroudwater Food Pantry!  — Doug

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 35 families, accounting for 94 people being fed.  3 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 388 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

Our two Hannaford food pickups on Friday yielded a total of 1,240 lbs; purchases and donations came to 448 lbs. for a total of 1,688 lbs. of food processed for the week. Volunteers for the week included Steve, Adam, Sheamus, Jenn, Terry, Michael C and myself.

Thank you everyone who helped usher in our second year of the Stroudwater Food Pantry!!              —  Doug