JANUARY 1, 2024 UPDATE: THANK YOU to the community and Vincent’s Country Store for the amazing outpouring of support for the benefit of the Westminster Community Food Pantry through donations at the drop off location in front of Keller Williams office at 107 Main Street in Westminster! Our tally for November and December was 1,115 donated non-perishable food items, PLUS a matching $1,000 store credit donation from Brian at Vincent’s Country Store! I’m sure we’ll have ideas in 2024 as well. The news coming out of this initiative is positive, thanks so much to the wonderful community of Westminster!
I’m so grateful for the community support in helping the Westminster Community Food Pantry during a time of crisis, and am sincerely hopeful and optimistic that this will begin to create a habit of giving year round, and instill an awareness in our kids that helping others feels good and that we all have something to give.
Starting in 1997 when I moved in to Westminster, if there was a local issue that I wanted to raise awareness (and funds) for, I’d stop in at Vincent’s Country Store, talk it through with my friend Bruce Vincent, and in just a few minutes, we’d have a plan. Bruce and I had so much fun coming up with ways to engage the community to help people in Westminster, to help the Food Pantry, Neighbors Helping Neighbors, etc. If you missed knowing Bruce, you missed an amazing business person and pillar of the community.
The Westminster Community Food Pantry needs the community’s help. They posted in early November that due to increasing costs, an increase in the number of Westminster families being helped, and the seasonal nature of donations of non-perishable items, that they were forced to modify their open hours schedule to be every other week, rather than every week. Since people need to eat every week, I wanted to come up with a way to supplement what they are already getting, and I’m so happy that Bruce Vincent’s son Brian and I brainstormed a way to help–and most importantly raise awareness of the need, through the end of 2023. And I’m sure we’ll have ideas going in to 2024 as well.
For EVERY NON-PERISHABLE food item that’s dropped off in the XL bin in front of my Keller Williams office at 107 Main Street or at Vincent’s Country Store through the end of 2023, Brian will donate $1 in store credit to the Westminster Community Food Pantry, UP TO $1,000! Once we hit the 1,000 items, I don’t want to see all that teamwork fizzle out~~let’s keep this going year-round, after all, that’s when people are H-U-N-G-R-Y. Year round.
Please drop off as many non-perishable/current date food items as you’re able to–in the XL bin at my office at 107 Main Street, Westminster 24/7/365 or if you want to grab a few extra items when you’re shopping, you can leave them in the bin by the registers at Vincent’s Country Store (either place so they can count toward the total!).
Going in to Thanksgiving week, we received a total of 885 items at my office and at Vincent’s Country Store. Someone asked how I count the quantity of items–because I had a casual contest to have people guess how many items were in a photo. Here’s the answer–if it’s a multi-pack, and you could buy the items individually, I count each as 1. If it’s an 8-pack of juice boxes, I count that as 1. Then, on some things I use my own discretion – – a 52-pack instant oatmeal case shouldn’t count as 52, and it shouldn’t count as 1. Since oatmeal packets usually come in a box of 10, I round up and call it 6. *I promise, I do actually get other things done.
Thank you everyone for an amazing month of donations! We had an unexpected carload of non-perishable food donations (and some gift cards and a turkey certificate) from the Leadership Course at JABIL, Inc. In addition to our grassroots community effort, the WCFP was also the recipient of large scale collections by the Westminster Elementary School Student Council and the Oakmont National Honor Society.
Local resident Mike Cooley hosted a party at Blueprint in early December that resulted in donations to TWO of my favorite local charities–the Westminster Benefit Fund (aka Neighbors Helping Neighbors) and the Westminster Community Food Pantry. Mike mentioned Sean McNally and a special thanks to Jimmy Trivia for hosting the music for the event. It was a wonderful evening with so many neighbors from the community, and resulted in a donation of 3 pickup trucks worth of non-perishable food items to be delivered to the food pantry.
A huge shoutout to Brian Vincent of Vincent’s Country Store, where he agreed to match $1 for every food item I get in the bin at my office. As of this writing, 12/8, we now have 994 items, and I’m sure we’ll hit 1,000 items ( = $1,000 in store credit to the Westminster Community Food Pantry) by the end of today!
The Westminster Community Food Pantry posted this message on November 30, after the community stepped up over the past month:
After an overwhelming response from the town residents, businesses, organizations, and other individuals, the Westminster Community Food Pantry is happy to announce that we will be able to continue with weekly service for the residents that are in need of food assistance. The food pantry will be open every Thursday from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Congregational Church. We are incredibly grateful for the response that we’ve received. Please keep in mind that although we have weathered this storm, there continues to be a need for regular donations whether that be in the form of food or money. Also, if you are donating food, please make sure it has not expired. We do not give out expired food. If it is expired for you, it is expired for all. Thank you again for your kindness in helping those in town who are in need.
How can you help the Westminster Community Food Pantry?
Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at my office at 107 Main Street in Westminster (pictured above) or at the side entrance to the Westminster Congregational Church for their Thursday distributions.
The Westminster Community Food Pantry is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, and checks can be made out to them and mailed to them at 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA 01473. They also have a small wall-mounted dropbox at the side entrance to the church if you want to drop off cash or check.
You can contact the food pantry folks directly to talk about other ways you might donate for their benefit.
(978) 874-7970
westminsterfoodpantry@gmail.com
Finally, thank you to the Westminster Community Food Pantry volunteers who do the work of sorting, shopping, and distributing the food every week.
I’m so THANKFUL for so many people donating to this perpetual food drive. I am going to ask for continued generosity throughout the year. Thanksgiving is typically associated with food drives, but people need food year round.