March 4, 2026 Newsletter
A LOOK BACK AT 2025
First Parish Newbury Food Pantry is an all-volunteer pantry with the mission of alleviating food insecurity and providing opportunities for community residents to help their neighbors.
In 2025, we:
Provided Food Assistance to an Average of 757 Family Members per Week by Year's End
Guests living or working in the seven communities we serve placed 15,619 requests for food in 2025, providing food for 37,165 family members during the year. Our guest roster in 2025 included 1,555 family members in 649 households. About 50% of the households included a senior over 65, and 23% of our guests were children. As in prior years, we delivered over half the food orders, providing a critical service to those without transportation.
Distributed 604,579 Pounds of Food
According to Project Bread’s conversion ratio (1.2 lbs. per meal), the food we distributed in 2025 is equivalent to providing 503,816 meals. The majority of food, 54%, was donated by or purchased from the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). 7% was purchased locally, and 39% was donated by businesses, individuals, or food drives sponsored by schools, churches, businesses, and local service and community organizations. In 2025, we received 1,836 separate donations of food. Due to the range of items we receive, our guests can typically select from over 400 items each week, including a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese, frozen meats, and other essential & nutritious food items.
Volunteers Provided over 43,500 Hours to Assist Neighbors
At the end of 2025, we had a roster of 285 active volunteers. Volunteer retention continues to be excellent. Eighty-one volunteers joined us for the first time in 2025, and 116 have been volunteering with us for three or more years. In total, volunteers gave over 43,500 hours of service in 2025. We continue to be one of the highest volume users of Signup, the online scheduling tool we adopted in 2023.
Recovered Food From Schools, Businesses, and Pantry Operations
Each week that school is in session, our volunteers collect unused fruit, vegetables, milk, sandwiches, juices, and snacks that are still able to be used but, by regulation, would have to be discarded. Currently, we are working with Newbury Elementary, Newburyport Public Schools, Salisbury Elementary, and Pentucket High School. In 2025, the program recovered 13,192 pounds of food that would have been discarded.
We are always looking for ways in which we can recover perfectly good food that would end up in landfills. In 2025, we picked up 81,926 pounds of surplus food seven days a week from local bakeries, grocery stores, and businesses.
At the end of each week, we ensure that any food that won’t keep until the next Pantry Day is distributed to local halfway houses and, when unsuitable for humans, to farms that use it for feed.
Worked with Partners to Meet Critical Needs
Seacoast Regional Food Hub – For all of 2025, we have been able to pick up our weekly GBFB orders from the Seacoast Regional Food Hub operated by Our Neighbors’ Table in Salisbury instead of driving to Salem or Amesbury for them. In addition, Our Neighbors’ Table rents their van and panel trucks to us for pick-up of GBFB orders in Salisbury and Salem and delivery of groceries to more than 200 households on Fridays.
Salem Food Pantry - During part of 2025, the Salem Food Pantry’s bulk ordering of full pallets to be shared with local pantries provided an additional source of fresh produce and canned items. They also coordinated multiple donations from Hannaford’s to be shared with several pantries, including ours.
Nourishing The North Shore – Nourishing the North Shore continues to provide us with locally grown fresh produce when it is in season. This supplements the produce we buy from the GBFB and local markets, often providing a greater variety than otherwise available. During 2025, we continued our summer outside the Farmers’ Market, a highlight for guests who enjoy selecting their own locally grown produce.
Greater Newbury Elder Pet Fund – Many of our guests consider their pets essential to their well-being, but have difficulty affording their food and care. The Pet Fund, a partner since 2017, provides guests with free pet food, which they request in their online order.
Newbury Police Department – When community food donations poured in during the fall government shutdown, the Newbury Police Department began accepting donations for us 24 hours a day and delivering items to us when we have volunteers on hand to accept them. They continue to accept and deliver food donations, a huge convenience to us and to the community.
Jabberwocky Bookstore - This year, Sue Little, owner of Jabberwocky Bookstore, began donating children's and young adult books to the pantry to be given to the children of our guests. The books are sorted by age and reading level, making it easy to select an appropriate book. As guests come to pick up their groceries each Friday, children can choose any book to keep.
Served an average of 110 Students Weekly at Pantries in Eight Schools
Our pantries in local schools provide students in need with snacks and mini-meals to eat at school or take home. While school was in session this year, we had pantries in all five schools in the Triton Regional School District, at Upper Molin Elementary School and Nock Middle School in Newburyport, and at the River Valley Charter School in Newburyport. We also provided snacks in collaboration with the Enrichment Center at Kelleher Circle in Newburyport, which offered after-school activities for children in subsidized housing through June 2025, when that program was moved and brought under the auspices of Newburyport Youth Services.
Awarded the Healthy Pantry Seal of Approval
The Be Well Study, which is jointly sponsored by the GBFB and Mass General Hospital, awarded the First Parish Newbury Food Pantry its Healthy Pantry Seal of Approval. This Seal is a research-based certification focused specifically on strong implementation of the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) system. Implementation involved attendance at monthly nutritional training sessions and color-coding food items on our online ordering system based on the amount of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars each item contains. Implementing SWAP well requires operational change, attention to detail, and sustained commitment. Pantries that earn the Seal have invested real time and energy into aligning their systems, training teams, and reinforcing nutrition-forward practices.
Designated as a 2025 Healthy Pantry Leader
The GBFB recognized the First Parish Newbury Food Pantry as a “2025 Healthy Pantry Leader.” This program recognizes broad nutrition leadership within the GBFB network. It is based on implementing the SWAP color coding system and undertaking additional steps to improve access to nutritious food, support chronic disease prevention, promote dignity-centered pantry models, strengthen partnerships with healthcare and community stakeholders, and build a culture of growth and leadership across GBFB agencies.
Recognized with the Prestigious 10th Annual Peter J. Gomes Award
In September, Congressman Seth Moulton presented the 10th Annual Peter J. Gomes Award to Jane Merrow, co-founder of the First Parish Newbury Food Pantry. An email announcement reported as follows: What began in 2015 with one person has grown under Jane’s leadership to serve more than 750 people a week across seven communities. She has built partnerships with schools, farms, and businesses, and in just the past year alone, the Pantry has rescued over 95,100 pounds of surplus food. Her work ensures families have access to fresh meals and students in nine schools have what they need to thrive.
Supported Generously by the Community
Throughout 2025, our community was tremendously and consistently generous. The fall/winter government shutdown and related limitation on guest access to SNAP benefits spurred even greater generosity. Donations have come to us from across the community and beyond - from individuals and organizations, from guests, volunteers, and others who know or have recently learned about our work. In 2025, we received financial support from 370 individuals and 45 organizations.
Streamlined Organization of Orders for Pantry Day Fulfillment
After another successful year of operating the Pantrysoft order management and inventory system, which we acquired in 2023, we were able to further streamline the manual preparation required in our operations. For instance, we utilized Pantrysoft data to generate bag labels for each guest tailored to the size of their orders. This reduced volunteer prep time and minimized errors during the packing and delivery process. These and other improvements enabled us to serve a greater number of guests each month and provide a smoother experience for everyone involved.
Implemented Solar Power to Address Expanded Electricity Needs
With the construction of a walk-in freezer and refrigerator in 2024, in addition to 5 other freezers and 5 refrigerators, electricity bills increased 66%. Knowing that tax credits for solar projects were expiring, a team from the First Parish Newbury Food Pantry and First Parish Newbury Church began exploring the economic viability of adding solar to reduce electricity costs. Led by pantry volunteer Larry Paoletti, a variety of solar array options were discussed using cost and cost-recovery analyses to select the most cost-effective option for the food pantry. A ground-based solar array comprised of 52 commercial-grade, bifacial solar panels was installed. The panels are designed to generate power from both the front (direct light) and reflected light from under the panels. The system is capable of producing 26.6 kilowatts of AC power, which will provide the majority of the electricity the pantry uses. The solar panel system began generating power on December 30th, the day it was commissioned by National Grid.
Celebrated Ten Years as a Critical Community Resource
In 2025, we marked ten years of providing food to those in need. Community members – from volunteers and donors to guests, local officials, and the press – came to our open house celebrating this accomplishment and the people who made it happen. We continued to speak before local service organizations and received excellent press coverage about our tenth anniversary and the challenges we faced as guest numbers grew.
We provided periodic updates to councils on aging, churches, and local service organizations, continuing to build our organization’s recognition. We placed posters with our business cards at local laundromats and libraries, and continued our outreach to members of the Board of Selectmen/Councilors for the seven towns we serve to keep them informed about the number of their constituents that we are serving.
Social media and our monthly newsletter played an important role in extending our reach, strengthening community partnerships, and mobilizing support when it was needed most. As of the end of 2025, our Instagram account reached approximately 1,000 followers, our Facebook page reached approximately 845 followers, our website averaged 1600 views a month, and our newsletter was distributed monthly to 742 people.
Our regular posts on Instagram and Facebook helped keep volunteers, donors, and neighbors informed about pantry operations, special drives, and seasonal needs. For instance, a call for reusable and paper grocery bags reached 10,131 views, with 95.4% of viewers coming from outside our follower base, helping us quickly meet a critical operational need.
Our enthusiastic volunteers organized, staffed, and promoted activities across the community in support of the pantry, including a concert at Maudslay Arts Center, monthly dinners at Loretta’s, the Byfield Car Show, a December dinner at the Riptide Café on Plum Island, and Christmas gift wrapping at Henry Bear’s Park and WishBasket at the Tannery in Newburyport.
LORETTA FUNDRAISER
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 starting at 5PM
Our Loretta fundraiser continues… Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Starting at 5 pm, Loretta will donate part of the proceeds to the Pantry. Plan on dinner out (take out or eat in). You'll see a lot of familiar faces as the community turns out to support our work. We suggest that you make reservations in advance.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
As our work has expanded to help more neighbors in our community, our need for volunteers has increased. Volunteer opportunities include calling our guests to take their orders on Wednesday, staffing four shifts throughout the day on Friday to fulfill grocery orders for our guests, and assisting in the occasional Food Drive or other special projects on Saturdays.
Here is what our volunteers are saying:
"It’s a real pleasure to work in concert with such friendly, organized people. I loved the fast pace and the way the hours raced by."
"Such an awesome organization. So glad to be a part of this community effort."
"I really enjoy volunteering with you and everyone else at the pantry. It's such important work for the community and everyone is so welcoming and kind."
Come join us! Email Barbara at info@newburyfoodpantry.org to let her know you are interested.
FOOD DONATIONS
We accept food donations every Thursday from 9:30 am -1 pm. If you are not able to drop off at that time, please contact us at info@newburyfoodpantry.org or call 978-358-1077 to arrange another time. You can also drop off donations in the lobby of the Newbury Police Department 24 hours/day.
Our most requested items include Coffee, Tea, Flour, Sugar, Baking Mixes, Cereals, Pasta Sides, Jello and Pudding Mixes, Jelly, Canned Ham, Spam, Broths, Soups, and Toilet Paper.