Above: The Southborough Food Pantry is looking for support right now to stock up for Thanksgiving. And unfortunately there won’t be a Town-wide date for scouts to collect goods en masse this fall. (Though, you may see smaller drives by individual scouting families around town.) (images cropped from Southborough Food Pantry flyer and photo by Susan Fitzgerald)
Normally, Southborough holds a big Scouting for Food collection drive on a Saturday morning in November. Organizers are disappointed to announce that aren’t able to safely hold that this year.
That doesn’t mean that scouts won’t be collecting items for the Southborough Food Pantry. Individual scouting families may organize drives for their neighborhoods. (Scroll down for more on that.) And anyone who is able to support the food pantry is always welcome to make donations.
In fact, with Thanksgiving approaching, the Southborough Food Pantry shared their special need for donations to be received by Friday, November 13th. Due to limited capacity at the pantry, they are urging people who are donating items to stick to their current needs list. Here’s how to donate:
(click to enlarge)
Four ways to donate:
Shop at your local grocery store. Stick to the needs list [click on the image right for current list] – the food pantry has limited storage. Drop off in the bin on the back side of Pilgrim Church no later than November 13th (COVID guidelines).
Buy from the Food Pantry’s Amazon Wishlist. Add the items to your cart as you normally would and select Barbara Jandrue’s shipping address. She’ll get your donations to the pantry. Please make sure items will arrive BEFORE November 13th. https://bit.ly/SoboFoodPantryWishList
Donate via check made out to Southborough Food Pantry. Mail to: PO Box 281, Southborough, MA 01772
Visit http://smile.amazon.com and select “United Parishes of Southborough Inc” as your charity. A portion of all purchases will go to the Food Pantry!
As for Scouting for Food’s cancellation, organizers explained:
This is the time of year when Southborough Scouts usually hold their annual Scouting for Food drive. Due to Covid-19 restrictions for large group events, and BSA rules prohibiting many Scouts from collecting or sorting food, the event cannot be held safely this year.
Scouts have been encouraged to choose their own date to collect food with their families in their own neighborhoods instead. This will help the Southborough Food Pantry to remain well stocked without the need for hundreds of volunteers sorting food together on one day. While these small food drives are not official Scouting events, we have suggested families use the same format of hanging flyers from homes and picking up food at the curb one week later. This may vary depending on weather and family preference.
We hope to be back to our normal one day whole town event next year. The Southborough Food Pantry and the Scouts thank you for your support!
To help inspire scouts and others considering holding their own small drives, I’m sharing some examples from youth below. Earlier this fall and summer, the pantry shared on Facebook the following acts of generosity:
Cub Scouts and other children in the Liberty Estates neighborhood held a food drive.
As a “mitzvah” (good deed), Evan Hojlo asked those who were celebrating his Bar Mitzvah to donate items. (Looks like he collected quite a haul.)
Hayden Stucka, Emily Degon, and Alisa Barnes sold crafts this summer in support of the pantry, raising $230.
Young members of the St. Matthew Youth Ministry ran a food drive for the pantry this summer, in lieu of the mission trip they would have made to Mississippi.
Of course, you don’t have to be a kid to help out.
In July, All Car Care donated the proceeds from its promotional fundraiser to the Food Pantry. And in August, community members donated back backpacks and school supplies for the pantry’s clients. The pantry’s post thanked “Dee Cameron and St. Marks parishioners along with Sayra Butterfield and Rotarians Liz and Joyce”. And, as I’ve previously shared, the Southborough Teachers Association has also donated items to the cause.
If you’d like to support the pantry, you can generally find their updated list of needs on the Facebook page here. You can drop off items in the big plastic bins outside of Pilgrim Church.
This is the time of year when Southborough Scouts usually hold their annual Scouting for Food drive. Due to Covid-19 restrictions for large group events, and BSA rules prohibiting many Scouts from collecting or sorting food, the event cannot be held safely this year.
In July, All Car Care donated the proceeds from its promotional fundraiser to the Food Pantry. And in August, community members donated back backpacks and school supplies for the pantry’s clients. The pantry’s post thanked “Dee Cameron and St. Marks parishioners along with Sayra Butterfield and Rotarians Liz and Joyce”. And, as I’ve previously shared, the Southborough Teachers Association has also donated items to the cause.