May 12, 2026 Newsletter
APRIL UPDATE
During March and April, orders have been pretty consistent from week to week, averaging 310 orders in March and 315 in April. Aside from a few slow spots on Friday afternoons, the pantry has been running amazingly smoothly. We want to give a shoutout to all of our amazing volunteers who operate this “well oiled machine”. Planning and preparation are an important part of making Friday’s run smoothly.
The pantry’s week starts with a planning meeting on Monday. Tuesday is inventory and ordering day. Wednesday and Thursday are busy with calling 138 guests to take their orders, getting several thousand donated paper bags organized and double bagged, stocking the shelves, sorting and stocking donations and printing orders and bag tags for an average of 315 orders each week. Then the pick lists and bag tags are matched together and sorted by delivery route or pickup time. Other volunteers pick up produce and items purchased from local grocery stores.
Fridays we have four shifts, starting with a team of early risers who set up the pantry building for the flow of the day's operations. Starting at 9 am, nearly 200 orders are picked, packed and delivered on 20 routes by 11 driver teams to guests with transportation issues. During the mid-day and afternoon shifts, guests pick up their orders at pre-assigned times. At the end of the day, our high school volunteers arrive to help clean up. On Saturday, volunteers restock the shelves and more guests pick up their orders. And every day of the week we have volunteers picking up fresh food that would otherwise go to waste from local groceries and schools. Visitors who have watched the pantry in action have often commented how efficient and friendly our volunteers are.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Calling Guests to Take Orders by Phone
When a guest is not comfortable placing their order online, a volunteer from the Pantry calls them each week to place their order. We currently have 34 callers reaching out to 138 guests each Wednesday. Our callers have “regulars” (guests they call every week) and they also sub for each other when fellow callers take time off. The weekly check-ins with guests to take their orders become a time to catch up on the week’s activities and, in some cases, identify health or well-being issues that we bring to the attention of relevant local resources.
Many of our callers have worn multiple hats at the Pantry and about a third of them started volunteering during COVID or before. Their comments reflect the range of experiences they have had at the Pantry:
“Wednesday calls to guests go far beyond asking if the need is for milk and eggs. The calls are bonds.”
“I’ve been a caller since 2020 and feel lucky to have had the same guests that whole time. I look forward to talking to them each week and often laughing together over whatever has happened since we last spoke, like catching up with a neighbor.”
“I speak some Spanish so was assigned a Spanish-speaking guest. After a few years of calling, we’ve turned the corner and I find that my Spanish is not as good as my guest’s English.”
“Connections develop in many different ways. My parents were German-speaking so I use German as well as English to converse with a guest about her youth in Germany. We both look forward to our talks.”
“It is not just what the Pantry does but how it is done that is so important. We build relationships through the individual calls, we support dignity and humanity by giving people choice, the orders are filled by individuals who make selections with the recipients’ wishes and needs in mind, and food is delivered safely and with care. The pantry grows and evolves but never at the expense of the mission to respect the individuals that are served.”
And here are some of our callers...
From top left to bottom right: Tom, Donna, Barbara, and Julie
From top left to bottom right: Sue, Anita, Helena, and Cary
From top left to bottom: Barbara, Deb and Peter, and Mary
Lions Club Food Drive
The bi-annual Lions Club Food Drive took place on Saturday May 2, outside of the Newburyport Market Basket. The young up-and-coming members of the club called LEOS again worked this event. They packed 345 shopping bags with staple grocery items that shoppers could purchase, and the contents were donated to the food pantry. In total, we received 3,500 pounds of food plus $1,200 in cash. These contributions exceeded the donations we received from last year's May event.
We are so grateful to all the LEOS who contributed their time to this very successful event. Thank you so much!!
Newbury Girl Scout Troop Paper Bag Drive
You may recall in our April Newsletter that we told you about the Newbury Girl Scouts who beautifully painted our bagging tables. Well, because they heard during that project that we are in constant need of paper shopping bags, they decided to hold a bag drive. They were extremely successful, and below you will see the large quantity of bags they received, folded neatly and donated to the pantry.
Thank you so much to all the girls who were involved. We are so thankful!!!
Helping To Get The Word Out
Community awareness that help is only a phone call away is an important part of our ability to reach all of our neighbors who need food assistance. To build awareness, we maintain posters with calling cards in appropriate public spaces like laundromats, libraries, councils on aging, etc. We also provide plastic card holders with a supply of pantry calling cards to people who come in contact with people who might need food assistance. However, are we visible everywhere we should be? We need your help to let us know if we are missing any opportunities to get the word out with our posters and calling cards in the 7 communities we serve. If you can think of any public places with bulletin boards or people that we are missing, you have several options. You can pick up a poster and calling cards at the pantry and contact them yourself. Or, you can let Jane Merrow know, call our info line at 978-358-1077, email info@newburyfoodpantry.org or drop a note in the suggestions box.
Thank you!
LORETTA FUNDRAISER
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 starting at 5PM
Our Loretta fundraiser continues… Wednesday, May 13, 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.
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, Jello and Pudding Mixes, Jelly, Canned Ham, Spam, Broths, and Toilet Paper.