This letter of thanks goes out to all the generous people who contributed money and/or non-perishable food to the 14th annual Shepherd’s Pantry holiday fundraiser. With a monthly expenditure of around $6,000.00 used to purchase food that is either running low or out of completely, monetary donations are necessary to keep the pantry running smoothly.
According to Blanche Pepin, the pantry’s administrator, hard working and dedicated volunteers handed out thousands of food items to over 6,000 families during this past year. Broken down, that’s over 16,000 individuals helped; with 33% of this total going to children and an average of over 95 families that come looking for help each Saturday between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m.
A BIG thank you for this year’s success goes to the much needed and appreciated newspaper articles from The Standard-Times, The Fairhaven/ Acushnet Advocate and the Fairhaven Neighborhood News. Also, a BIG thank you to some of the area’s businesses, churches, schools and non-profit groups and organizations that have donated their time and money towards our yearly venture. I’d also like to acknowledge the donors who have visited our web site, shepherdspantry.org, and felt inspired to help our cause.
Another big contributor this year was when both The Greater New Bedford Track Club and Union Running from Fairhaven had agreed, back in August of this year, to take over the responsibility and the hard work to promote and run our annual Turkey Trot road race. This annual Thanksgiving morning event brought in 890 registered runners, a new record. After expenses, over $20,000 and over 2,500 lbs. of food that was donated, because of the road race, found its way to the Shepherd’s Pantry.
Also, another big thank you to the Stop & Shop Bakery Department workers, located in Fairhaven, who hand me outdated bread and pastries on Friday afternoons to be given out the next morning to the needy who frequent the pantry.
And finally, the food bins located at the Millicent Library, and Stop & Shop Supermarket, both located in Fairhaven, where generous people have dropped off thousands of pounds of non-perishable food this past year, will continue.
If you have any questions about the pantry located at the Long Plain United Methodist Church at 1215 Main Street in Acushnet, please call 508-763-9289.
Sincerely, Gerry Payette
Holiday fund raiser coordinator and Executive Director
••••
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=Y6V5ARRYH689G
Click here to download the entire 1/4/18 issue: 01-04-18 NoPlunge
