SFP Volunteer Update – December, 2022

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

-       Winston Churchill

As the year draws to close, I know I am not the only one to reflect on how much has changed. Last year at this time, we were finishing the renovations at our new home, All Souls Community Church. We completed 18 months of drive-thru distributions and in December were able to serve from the Fellowship Hall!

During the Pandemic, your dedication ensured we did NOT slow down or stop from fulfilling our mission. We continued to support our neighbors AND build out our beautiful new Pantry at the same time.

Unfortunately, our client base continues to grow weekly, but we are able to continue to support our clients with healthy food choices and a few bonuses for the holidays.

In November, everyone received a $10 ShopRite gift card, milk, eggs, bread, wonderful produce and plenty of meat. For December, everyone is getting all of the same, except, if they prefer, 400 of our clients are receiving a heater / fan / filtration unit compliments of a donation from De’Longhi America made possible by our dedicated volunteer Beth Barone.

Snapshot of the past 3 months

Volunteer opportunities

Please click here to view our sign-ups for January. Just a reminder, we are closed next week for Christmas, but will be open for emergency visits if needed. We will resume our normal 2nd and 4th Tuesday and every Wednesday in January.

Annual Appeal

Each year, we send out an Annual Appeal to our Pantry family and supporters asking for your continued support. Please keep your eyes open for our 2022 message. If you are willing to share it with your personal network, we would really appreciate the support.

Volunteers go above and beyond

I would like to give a shout out this month to our dedicated Pantry Flow volunteers. There are a few folks who switch around with different roles, but it seems a number of you really enjoy the role of greeting, chatting, managing the flow and guiding our clients into our Pantry to shop.

This can be a challenging role especially during our busy times. With many clients of different backgrounds and languages, communication can be hard. This group includes, but is not limited to: Janet, Alan, Penny, Marianne, Beth, Rita, Shannon, Sarah, Susan, Terry, Regina, Jenny, Kelly & Donna. If I missed you in this group, my apologizes, your dedication is appreciated!

Wishing each of you a festive, happy and healthy holiday season. See you in January!

Respectfully yours,

Joyce