Our second issue of The Pantry Window is now available. Click here to read or download your personal copy.

You'll find some of the articles from the current and past issues below, and we'll try to update this page regularly with new items of interest, so come back often to see what's new through The Pantry Window.

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Click here for The Pantry Window Volume I - Number 1

Hello Friends, We have a new lease on life here at the Pantry and a much needed reorganization.  For the past 22 years, the Pantry has been housed rent-free in the Immaculate Conception school building. Unfortunately the church, like so many organizations in this economy, has been struggling financially.  After discussions with Pastor Father Bill Salmon and Parish Business Manager Eileen Collins, we agreed to a lease arrangement whereby we would pay the annual cost of the building’s utilities on a monthly basis. We cannot thank enough Father Bill, his predecessors and the parishioners of Immaculate Conception parish for their incredible support for the past 22 years. This lease agreement reflects their continuing generosity. 
Since we are now sole users of our space, we have been able to reorganize and rearrange our space to be more efficient, and better capable of serving our continuing growing numbers of clients. As you may know, we started in one of the closets of the school building, and over the years we’ve grown to where we use the entire first floor of the building.
All food storage, was spread amongst several closets. It is now in the classroom next to the front door, making incoming donations easier to unload, sort and store. One of the freed-up storage closets was converted to an office for our Assistant Director, Anne Mates, as well as administrative space for some of our volunteer activity. The new location next to our interview room makes for better access. In addition, we have new shelving built by volunteers, a new phone system with working intercoms, and better lighting. The rearrangements were topped off with a fresh coat of paint thanks to confirmation candidates from St. Jerome’s parish. (More on page 2.)
Sincere thanks to everyone who helped in giving us a “New Lease on Life”.

Director

Karaoke Event Raises $5,600: Nancy Marrapese-Burrell’s fundraising event at the Weymouth Elks on Sunday, February 21st – “The 2010 Battle of the Bars'' was an overwhelming success. It was a wonderful afternoon for everyone. It raised over $5600 for the Weymouth Food Pantry as well as Care Packs, which sends care packages to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The twenty three fantastic singers, who entertained the sold-out crowd, made it very hard for the judges, NECN’s Chet Curtis, radio sports personality Pete Sheppard and Weymouth Town Councilor Brian McDonald to not only choose the top five performers but to select the winners. Congratulations to Angela Rossi, representing Finian's Restaurant in Quincy. Both of her songs knocked everybody out. Second place went to Terri Riley, representing Cathay Center Restaurant in North Weymouth, and third prize went to Kirsten Hughes, representing The Common Market Restaurant in Quincy. Paul “Dr. Love'' Manning and Willie “Doo Wop'' Baker were also top-five finalists.
Thanks as well to Susie Chu of the Cathay Center for supplying the food. Susie was a great friend to this event and stepped beyond our wildest expectations to help us. We appreciate as well the assistance received from the Weymouth Elks.

The Weymouth Rotary Club conducted a food drive at Shaw's Supermarket on Saturday, October 17th, and it was great success. Rotary members braved cold, wind, and rain greeting shoppers as they entered the store, and presented them with a "shopping list" of the items most needed by the pantry. The generous shoppers responded in a big way providing groceries as they left the store that filled 65 "Banana Boxes"*. In addition, shoppers donated $300 in cash, and that donation was anonymously matched by a Rotarian resulting in a total of $600 for the Weymouth Food Pantry. That will enable us to access as much as seven times that amount through the Boston Food Bank.

	* (A Banana Box measures 20" x 16" x 9" and we use them to temporarily sort and store donated food items.) Thanks to Weymouth Rotary for its continuing support of the Weymouth Food Pantry!

Happy 9th Birthday wishes and our thanks to Harry Dooley and his friends . . .
In lieu of gifts, Harry’s friends made donations of $470 and lots of food for the Food Pantry at his birthday party at Carousel Skating in Whitman. Happy Birthday, Harry, and thanks to you and all your friends for the support

During recent weeks, the food pantry has received generous food donations from a variety of donors. Here are just some of them. Regretfully, we don’t record the names of all those generous individuals who “drop off a bag of groceries” at the food pantry, or who just want to make an anonymous donation of food to help feed those in need.

“Hints from Harvey”
for the Best Foods to Donate:
Here are a few suggestions from Harvey Welch, our volunteer who watches over the Food Pantry’s shelves to keep them stocked. Donations of food will complement our inventory and keep our shelves stocked for the coming months:
- Proteins (Tuna, chicken, fish etc., Peanut Butter)
- Soups & Stews
- Rice & Pasta
- Cereal including Oatmeal
- Canned Vegetables
- Canned or Dried Beans
- Canned Fruits
- Jelly, Cookies, Crackers & Snacks
- Boxed Mixes
- Prepared Box Mixes (such as Mac ‘n Cheese or Hamburger Helper)

For additional suggestions and more detail, check out the
Donation Suggestions page on our website.

We were pleasantly surprised with a generous contribution from the winner of the 14th Annual $tock Our Shelves Walk. She decided to take the cash prize option, and In turn, shared a large portion of her winnings with the Food Pantry!
                     Thank you!

Adopt-A-Month Weymouth Schools continue their tradition of aiding the Food Pantry with food drives. Almost every school in Weymouth (both public and private) adopts a month to collect food for the Pantry. So far this year, we have received donations from Johnson Early Childhood Center, Maria Chapman Middle School (Their annual “Souper” Bowl) and Wessagusett Primary
School, Nash Primary School and Academy Avenue School. We also received a $870.65 cash donation from the Weymouth High School National Honor Society. Cash donations such as this are a great help to the Food Pantry allowing us to access as much as seven dollars worth of nourishing food for every dollar donated and helping us balance donated foods as well as our on-hand inventories to better serve our clients.