The Family Pantry Newsletter
Fall 2009
What’s in a name?:
The name Family Pantry was chosen by the founding fathers because we consider everyone to be a part of our family: the clients who need our help, the donors who give us the financial support to buy the food & operate the pantry and the volunteers who are the heart & soul of the pantry. Some grants ask that we quantify the labor costs and using very conservative math the labor costs saved annually is $591.6K but the truth is that are volunteers are worth millions and their contribution is priceless. If you don’t believe me check out the pictures on www.thefamilypantry.com.
Website update:
Take a look at us online at www.thefamilypantry.com. Joe Aucoin has made some big changes to our website including a photo gallery. You better check it out as you may be there! One of the enhancements is that it is now possible to make a donation to the pantry via your credit card or paypal account and it is easy to do! Check it out!
Turkey Time:
Hard to believe but it is coming on that time of year! We will be giving turkeys & baskets with all the fillings to our families of three or more for Thanksgiving. We ask that anyone who can afford to do so pick up an extra (frozen) turkey for a family in need when shopping for your own Thanksgiving dinner. Bring the turkey to the pantry when our volunteers are here:
- Tues. & Thurs. 7AM to noon & 1:30-3:30 & Sat. 7AM to noon only.
Christmas: 
Jeanette Lynch, the undisputed Queen of Toys has turned her tiara and magic wand over to Joyce Simonis, who will head up the toy program for us this year. Jeanette & I sweet talked Joyce by promising her that there are many helper bees (including Jeanette & me) and her task is to keep us all organized & on track. We ask all the Christmas Elves to give Joyce the same help you did for Jeanette in the past.
We have changed our toy program to children 14 and younger for a couple of reasons. Gifts for 15 & 16 year olds are very expensive and we have had many people sign up for those gifts and then not pick them up. We have posted signs in the pantry notifying people and will feature this information even more prominently as time gets closer to sign up time.
Got bags?:
We are looking for about a million large shopping bags for our toy/gift program. If you have any please bring them in for us now so we know what we have.
Fuel Assistance:
We will begin taking fuel assistance applications October 1st. Many thanks to the dedicated team that takes on this vital service for our clients:
- Tuesday AM - Meg Cimini & Mary Kocot
- Tuesday PM - Ron Armbruster, Joe Coppola & John Healy
- Thursday AM - Pat Hirtle, Kathy Kelly, Mary Ann Ryer & Chris Wood
- Thursday PM - Dave Ryer
- Saturday – Chris Howard
Online Food Stamp Program:
We now have a trained food stamp volunteer for each shift. This is a wonderful additional source of food for our clients. Many thanks to this dedicated team as well:
- Tuesday AM – Meg Cimini
- Tuesday PM – John Healy
- Thursday AM – Mary Ann Ryer
- Thursday PM – Dave Ryer
- Saturday AM – Chris Howard
If anyone else is interested in being trained on this task please let Mary know.
Help Wanted:
This winter we need drivers to do the plastic bottles and cans pick up on Wednesday mornings because the Dennis transfer station will be closed Mondays & Tuesdays. This takes about 3 hours (8AM to 10:30 or 11:00. We would love a permanent crew for this day but for the moment are just looking for people willing to pick up a few shifts. There is a sign up sheet on the freezer or you can call Mary.
Two Georges No Waiting:
For several years we have been looking for an Assistant to PIA aka George Morris aka the Warehouse Manager. The good news is we have found a great guy and his name is George also! He immediately has named himself George II and has been an incredible addition to the pantry team. His real name is George Platt and he started by volunteering with the Tuesday PM shift. Lately George can be found at the pantry just about any day including the days the Boston Food Bank is here receiving the food & when other deliveries are expected. George is very proactive and often makes room for the food ahead of the delivery which helps keep us better organized. He also is trained on food ordering through the Boston Food Bank and does that as needed. He is working on documenting the food ordering & receiving procedures. Together with Anne Hayes George is also working on some inventory control ideas. As you can see George is a bundle of energy & fun to work with. Thank you so much George, you have really made a difference at the pantry!
Second Glance Thrift Shop:
Open Tuesday – Saturday 10-3 located at 4 Cross Street Harwich Port Second Glance had a fabulous summer thanks to the dedicated volunteers. We will not be open Mondays after October. We run 2 shifts each day 9:30-12:30 and 12:15-3:15 and are looking for help for Saturday, Recognizing this is a hard day to fill we run a schedule month to month to balance people’s times. We are also looking for a Team Leader for Saturday. JoAnna McInerney has retired after 3 years of dedicated service as the Saturday Team Leader and will be receiving her gold watch soon.
20th Birthday Party:
On Sunday August 9th Friends of The Family Pantry; The Honorable Sarah Peake, District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, Anastasia Walsh Perrino, Sheriff Jim Cummings, Tommy O’Neill, Dennis Picard and Dorothy Savarese hosted a birthday celebration fundraiser. This was a wonderful afternoon with great entertainment by the Classic Vinyl Band, singer Kathryn Andreoli accompanied by Tom Telesmanick and Very Special Guest and long time friend of the pantry, Comedian Jimmy Tingle.
Check out the pictures on our web page.
Fashion News:
Ok it is not exactly Paris or even a trunk show but we have several pantry volunteers who are looking very sharp in the royal blue family pantry aprons which were given to all the volunteers as a 20th birthday present.
Organization of the Year:
The Family Pantry was awarded this title by the Harwich Chamber of Commerce based upon our service to the Town and involvement in many chamber activities.
Young People Support the Pantry:
A big thank you to our host committee Anna Clark, Christopher George, Bonnie Loedel, Lindsay Linnane, Kathryn McManus, Nancy Peterson & Allan Wannamaker for our first ever event for younger people! 25 people came to The 400 Restaurant & Tavern where wonderful appetizers, beer & wine were served.
A very special thank you goes to Lindsay Linnane who designed the e-vite (email invitation); Nancy Peterson who is an outstanding auctioneer and Chris Howard & Chris George who manned the front desk.
A thank you also is extended for donating auction items to Meghan Rice at the Kennedy Gallery who donated a lovely Herring River hand painted tile and Tom O’Neill & Shelly McPhee who donated Red Sox Tickets & gift certificates to Abe & Louie’s & The 400 Restaurant & Tavern.
Several people signed up to work on some future events and/or volunteer work at the pantry. We will be meeting with this group this Fall.
Finally a big thank you to Rosemary O’Neill, Chairman of the Trustees. This was her brainchild and she did a great job finding young people and pulling together a fun and successful evening. For the record I would like it noted that Rosemary & I were out & about until just after midnight! Check out the pictures on our web page.
September 11th Community Service:
A group from Building Impact Company in Boston spent the morning of September 11th working at the pantry in honor of those who lost their lives on that day. The group accomplished the following tasks which still put a smile on my face:
Cleaning & painting the woodwork in the bathrooms
Organizing Fibber Magee’s closet aka the boutique closet
Cleaning the front door area & painting the white box
Cleaning the shelves by the coffee area including the walls & floor
Weeding the front gardens
Check out the pictures on our web page.
A Tip of the Hat to:
Don Milbier & Patrissi Landscaping for a fabulous job cleaning up the gardens front & back. It looks fabulous
Amy Camenga & TD Bank for the wonderful furniture donations. We now have some fabulous furniture for our proposed conference room. Thanks also to Don Milbier & Patrissi Landscaping for being willing to pick up at TD Bank & deliver to us many times and often on short notice!
Anne Watson who ran two classes on interviewing clients. We have several additional volunteers who can now perform this very important task.
Grants:
So far this year we have received generous grants from the following organizations and we are very grateful for their support:
- Bilezikian Foundation
- BJ’s Charitable Foundation
- Eos Foundation
- Exxon
- FEMA (stimulus money)
- Kelley Foundation
- Shaws Foundation
- Town of Dennis
- Town of Harwich
- Town of Yarmouth
Interior Renovations:
The Family Pantry will be making some interior changes to create a more comfortable work area for our volunteers to better serve our clients. Three board members, Claudia Crockett, Don Milbier, and Kathleen Magnusson, will oversee this project and are seeking input from the volunteers. Everyone is invited to fill out a questionnaire about his/her work area and to add any comments or ideas you may have. The team leaders will be distributing and collecting the questionnaires upon completion.
Thank you to our volunteers - for your work - and for your help with this project by letting us know what is important. “Most of the great ideas come from the people actually doing the work - not just those planning for them.” - KM 9/30/09
Contact us at: 
The Family Pantry
133 Queen Anne Rd.
Harwich, Ma. 02645
Tel 508 432-6519 Fax. 508 432-7083
Web. www.thefamilypantry.com
manderson@thefamilypantry.com
This newsletter can also be downloaded from the Publications page.