Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry had its biggest Sunday ever with 39  families served! We served 40 families Wednesday, totaling of 79 for the week with 244 people being fed.  9 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 342 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our three Hannaford pickups yielded 1,551 lbs. of food; purchases and donations totaled 624 lbs.  Volunteers for the week included Karlene, Steve, Jean, Lois, Grainer Cassidy, Ben, Mike H, Sheamus, Johnathan, Adam, Ellen, Wayne L, Angelica Curley, and myself. What’s going on –

• A Food Pantry Meeting is planned for this Sunday after the service.  We will meet upstairs in the Annex at 11:15.
• For the second week in a row we had a Time Warner Cable employee join us – Angelica Curley volunteered on the Wednesday shift.
• We continue to work on our expanded pantry area; we have setup tables as temporary shelving, and this week we plan to move the remainder of food from the cupboard down to the pantry storage room.
• This week we had our second Friday of dual Hannaford pickups (Westbrook & Falmouth) and the process continues to go well.
• I am continuing to work on a Capacity grant through the Good Sheppard Food Bank and will submit the application before the end of the month.

A special welcome this week to new volunteers Grainer and Angelica!  — Doug

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 26 families on Sunday and 39 on Wednesday, a total of 65 families, with 196 people being fed.  4 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 323 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 1,188 lbs. of food.  Volunteers for the week included Steve, Anne Jean, Sheamus, Johnathan, Adam, Martha, Ellen, Angie, Lois, Bill B., Pastor Bill and myself.  What’s Next –

• We continue to work on our expansion into the old Nursery area.  A special Thank You to Bernice who moved the nursery supplies and furniture into the new room!  We will plan to move in within the next few days, our first task will be to set up temporary shelving and add electrical service for refrigeration appliances.
• Tomorrow is our first Friday for dual Hannaford pickups; we continue our Friday pickup in Westbrook and start our new Friday pickup in Falmouth.

A special thank you this week to everyone helping with our ongoing pantry expansion!               — Doug

Hi Team – Apologies for the delay in this week’s report, your Stroudwater Food Pantry has had a busy and exciting week!  We served 67 families, a total of 203 people were fed.  5 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 319 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 1,095lbs of food.  Volunteers for the week included  Anne, Steve, Johnathan, Sheamus, Adam, Bill B, Jean, Elise, Angie, Karlene, Ellen, and myself.

Accomplishments –

• Our Good Sheppard Agency Rep, Jen MacDonald conducted a safe food handling training class this week.  Congratulations to our 4 students, Lois, Adam, Frank and Anne, all of whom passed the course and earned their 2 year safe food handling certifications!!
• Our food drive with Time Warner Cable was an outstanding success!!  TWC raised more than 3 times the amount of food they did last quarter, for a total of 1,917 lbs of dry stores!!  Volunteers helping with the pickup and put away included Lois, Kevin, Pastor Bill, Jean, and myself.
• We have added a third Hannaford donation pickup; beginning 4/29 we will pick up from two different Hannafords on Fridays and bring the food to the church for sorting, weighing, and inventory.
• SFP has been approved by the Official Board to expand into the adjacent room currently used by the Nursery.  The Nursery ministry is moving into the room at the back of the church near the Sunday School area.  This basically doubles our floor and wall space, allowing room for more refrigeration appliances and much more wall shelving.  More to come on this one regarding the timing of the expansion, and future plans for more appliances and shelving.

Thank you everyone who participated in food training, for assisting with the Time Warner Cable food drive, and for helping with our ongoing room expansion!

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 82 families, the most ever, largely due to our (again!) busiest Sunday to date, serving 36 families.  46 families were served on Wednesday, clearly demonstrating the load balancing we sought during January’s strategic planning is now being achieved.  In total, 214 people were fed.  8 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 314 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 1,266lbs. of food.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 954 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Sheamus, Anne, Steve, Johnathan, Adam, Bill B, Jean, Martha, Tammy, Angie, Deb and myself. What’s Next –

• Pantry dry stores of breakfast cereal, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti and sauce are at low levels and continue to remain our biggest need for donations.
• Safe food handling training class is being conducted by the Good Sheppard Food Bank at our church on April 21, 10-12noon.  The class is free, and students who pass the test are certified in safe food handling for 2 years.  Right now four people are confirmed to attend and we have plenty of room for others to join in.
• Our food drive with Time Warner Cable has been making great progress and is already ahead of their total count for last year. We will pick up their food donation the last week of April.

Thank you team for the outstanding effort you put forth to support our community during our busiest week ever!!   — Doug

Hi Everyone – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 78 families, the most ever, largely due to our busiest Sunday to date, serving 28 families.  50 families were served on Wednesday.  18 new families joined us this week, pushing us over the 300 hundred mark and bringing us to a total of 314 households whom we serve and provide groceries to on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 958 lbs. of food.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 515 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Laura, Sheamus, Anne, Steve, Johnathan, Bill B, Jean, Karlene, Lita, Dakota, and Adam.

What’s Next – 

• Pantry dry stores of breakfast cereal, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti and sauce are at low levels and continue to remain our biggest need for donations.
• Safe food handling training class is being conducted by the Good Sheppard Food Bank at our church on April 21, 10-12noon.  The class is free, and students who pass the test are certified in safe food handling for 2 years.  Right now four people are confirmed to attend and we have plenty of room for others to join in.
• Angie and I return home next week and will be in the pantry Wednesday 4/13.

A special thank you to all our volunteers who have staffed our pantry through its tremendous growth, and to all our church family who have supported us – thank you all!!     — Doug

Hi Team – Sorry for the delay on issuing last week’s pantry status.  Your Stroudwater Food Pantry was open on Easter Sunday, and graciously staffed by Malachi Barrows and Tina and Mike Halkiu.   12 families were served, with 48 families served on Wednesday.  In total we served 60 families this week, accounting for 164 people being fed.  5 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 296 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 1,012 lbs. of food.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 413 lbs. Volunteers for the week included, Malachi, Tina, Mike, Johnathan, Adam, Bill B, Karleen,  Ellen, and Anne. What’s Next –

• A safe food handling training class is being conducted by the Good Sheppard Food Bank at our church on April 21, 10-12noon.  The class is free, and students who pass the test are certified in safe food handling for 2 years.  Right now four people are confirmed to attend and we have plenty of room for others to join in.
• Our food drive with Time Warner Cable is well underway and making progress. We will pick up their food donation the last week of April.
• Angie and I are away on vacation 3/26 to 4/11, and are back in the pantry Wednesday 4/13.    — Doug

Hi Team – This Sunday was the busiest yet for your Stroudwater Food Pantry; 27 families were served, with 38 families served on Wednesday.  The restructuring of operations back in January is finally starting to yield a load balancing in activity for the days we are open.  In total we served 65 families this week, accounting for 181 people being fed.  10 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 291 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 955 lbs. of food.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 548 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Steve, Adam, Sheamus, Anne, Jean, Gary, Elise, Angie, Karlene, Bill B., and myself.  What’s Next –

• The Pantry will be open to serve the public on Easter.  Tina and Mike Halkiu have graciously offered to staff the pantry 1-3pm Easter Sunday.
• Financial constraints have forced us to temporally suspend the purchase of breakfast cereal for the time being.  Cereal tends to be the most expensive of dry stores that we purchase, so at this time we are emphasizing that cereal is the most important donation that people can make to the food pantry.
• A safe food handling training class is being conducted by the Good Sheppard Food Bank at our church on April 21, 10-12noon. The class is free, and students who pass the test are certified in safe food handling for 2 years.  Right now four people are confirmed to attend and we have plenty of room for others to join in.
• Our food drive with Time Warner Cable was successfully kicked off on March 18^th. We will pick up their food donation the last week of April.
• Angie and I are away on vacation 3/26 to 4/11, and are back in the pantry Wednesday 4/13. 

Thank you everyone who made this week such a success!    — Doug

Hi Team!! –  This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 16 families on Sunday and 32 families Wednesday.  In total we served 48 families this week, accounting for 126 people being fed.  4 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 279 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 814 lbs. of food.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 894 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Steve, Lois, Adam, Tina, Mike, Sheamus, Tammy, Anne, Ellen, Jean, Angie, Bill B., and myself.

What’s Next – 

• Pantry volunteers for this Sunday 3/20 are Gary and Elise, Wednesday 3/23 includes Bill B, Malachi, and Angie.
• The Stroudwater Food Pantry will be open to serve the public on Easter Sunday.  Tina and Mike Halkiu have graciously offered to staff the pantry 1-3pm.
• The safe food handling training class scheduled with the Good Sheppard Food Bank for Friday March 25 has been rescheduled.  GFSB will host the class at the church on April 21, 10-12noon.  Right now two people are confirmed to attend and we have room for lots of others to join in.
• We kickoff our next food drive with Time Warner Cable on March 18^th.  We will pick up their food donation of dry stores the last week of April.
• Angie and I are away on vacation 3/26 to 4/11, and are back in the pantry Wednesday 4/13.

It is inspiring to serve with the many volunteers who support the Stroudwater Food Pantry, and see their heartfelt dedication to serve those in need.  Thank you Team!!       — Doug

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 16 families on Sunday and 45 families yesterday.  In total we served 61 families, accounting for 190 people being fed.  11 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 275 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 854 lbs. of food.  Once again we did not receive any meat from the pickup, and having previously exhausted our meat reserves, we had only tuna fish on hand for meat distribution.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 513 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Anne, Steve, Jenn, Adam, Meaghan, Denise, Martha, Sheamus, Bill B, Malachi, Brian, Ellen, Angie, Jean, and myself.

What’s Next – We kickoff our next food drive with Time Warner Cable on March 15^th.  TWC will raise food donations and purchase food on their own for a month, and anticipate turning the food over to us on April 20^th.  I meet with their team managers this week to assist in getting their food drive started.

Thank you to the many hands that who labored this week to give groceries to those in need!         — Doug

Hi Team – This week your Stroudwater Food Pantry served 15 families on Sunday and 47 families yesterday.  In total we served 62 families, accounting for 214 people being fed.  5 new families joined us this week, bringing us to a total of 264 households registered to receive groceries on a regular basis.

The total of our two Hannaford pickups yielded 901 lbs. of food.  We did not receive any meat Wednesday morning, however, it is our practice to keep an inventory of frozen meat in reserve when we can, and we had enough on hand to get through the day with a little bit left over.  Our separate purchases and donations (non-Hannaford) of can foods and dry stores totaled 428 lbs. Volunteers for the week included Ellen, Kevin, Steve, Anne, Angie, Martha, Tammy,  Lita, Dakota, Maya, Adam, Sheamus, Bill B., and myself. What’s Next –

• We kickoff our next food drive with Time Warner Cable on March 15^th.  TWC will raise food donations and purchase food on their own for a month, and anticipate turning the food over to us on April 20^th.  I meet with their team managers on the 15^th to discuss best practices for economical shopping, the types of dry stores most frequently needed, and how best to structure a food raising competition among their Call Center teams.
• For anyone wishing to make a food donation to the pantry, the dry stores most frequently needed continue to be; boxes of breakfast cereal, peanut butter, jelly, spaghetti, and red spaghetti sauce.
• For anyone wishing to make a cash donation to the pantry, please make your check payable to Stroudwater Christian Church, and write Food Pantry on the memo line.

This week it seemed like we had more volunteers than ever; how rewarding it is to labor with so many who are so willing to do the Lord’s work. You are a blessing to Stroudwater Church and the community whom we serve!                          — Doug