Plant a Row for the Hungry!

Plant A Row for The Hungry

Donate Your Extra Freshly Grown Produce to the Food Pantry

Here’s a great idea from the Garden Writers Association.  Now is the ideal time to plan summer gardens that could yield a bounty of vegetables and herbs.  What will you do with the extra tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce or zucchini?  Why not give this fresh produce to the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry to support the effort to help our neighbors in need with locally grown, healthy foods?

The Plant A Row for the Hungry program which was launched in 1995 also encourages gardening enthusiasts to dedicate a row (or more) specifically for distribution to local food pantries.

Garden Writers Association website states that 20 million pounds of produce providing over 80 million meals have been donated by American gardeners since 1995. All of this has been achieved without government subsidy or bureaucratic red tape - just people helping people. There are over 84 million households with a yard or garden in the U.S. If every gardener plants one extra row of vegetables and donates their surplus to local food agencies and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made on reducing hunger.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1 in 8 households in the United States experiences hunger or the risk of hunger. Many frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for an entire day. Approximately 33 million people, including 13 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. The demand for hunger assistance has increased by 70% in recent years, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and adults are turned away from food banks each year because of lack of resources.

Get out your gardening gloves, tools and seeds and plant a row for the Wakefield Food Pantry!

The pantry will also be open on Saturday mornings in late summer and early fall for people to drop off their harvest.   Call 781-245-2510 for details.

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Was a Big Success for Food Pantry

Thanks to the generosity of the Wakefield community, volunteers, supporters and, of course, the letter carriers, the 2014 Stamp Out Hunger drive was a success.  The Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry collected 317 bins of items which is about 6 tons of food to stock the pantry shelves.

“What an amazing effort from our Wakefield community and letter carriers.  There were also close to 100 volunteers helping throughout the day, including Boy Scouts, the Warrior Club, and many others,” said Maureen Miller, Director of Operations for the food pantry.

For over thirty years, the food pantry has been focused on eliminating hunger in Wakefield by providing a variety of food and other items to those in need.  Approximately 530 households rely on the food pantry for supplemental food and groceries.  About 900 people are served each month including more than 330 children of which more than half are under the age of 12. 

Monetary donations are also greatly needed and appreciated.  At the Americal Civic Center, the pantry has appropriate storage to utilize the extensive bulk purchasing power of the Greater Boston Food Bank  - enabling pantry volunteers to obtain additional food at very low cost. In fact, with a one-dollar donation, the food pantry can purchase more than four dollars worth of food for our neighbors in need.

Non-perishable food can be dropped off at the pantry at the Americal Civic Center (lower level) on 467 Main Street in Wakefield, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Also, Saturday food drives are often held from 10 a.m. to noon both at the pantry and other locations around Wakefield.

For more information about the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry and a list of most needed items, please visit www.wakefieldfoodpantry.org.

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive: May 10, 2014

This year will mark the 22nd national Letter Carrier Food Drive, Stamp Out Hunger, to be held this year on Saturday, May 10, 2014. The concept behind the drive is simple: you leave non-perishable food donations at your mailbox—and the letter carriers take care of the rest. Last year, the National Letter Carriers Association collected more than 74 million pounds of food to help restock food banks, pantries and shelters around the country.

The Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry relies on this drive to help stock its shelves and get ready for the summer months when food donations and drives tend to decrease.

"Wakefield is very fortunate to have letter carriers who are willing to pick up and deliver many pounds of food, along with their regular mail delivery each year," commented Maureen Miller, WIFP Director of Operations. “We’d like to thank each and every one of them for their help again this year.”

In addition, the pantry relies on many volunteers to help sort and stock the food that comes in after the letter carriers deliver the food.

For over thirty years, the food pantry has been focused on eliminating hunger in Wakefield by providing a variety of food and other items to those in need.  Approximately 530 households rely on the food pantry for supplemental food and groceries.  About 900 people are served each month including more than 330 children of which more than half are under the age of 12.  Non-perishable food can be dropped off at the pantry at the Americal Civic Center (lower level) on 467 Main Street in Wakefield, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Also, Saturday food drives are often held from 10 a.m. to noon both at the pantry and other locations around Wakefield. For more information about the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry, please visit www.wakefieldfoodpantry.org.

Please be generous and help Stamp Out Hunger on May 10^th.

Join the Wakefield Food Pantry at its Community Breakfast - May 14th

~The Goal is to Help Address Hunger and Access to Healthy Foods in our Community~

To help shape how we address hunger and access to healthy food in our community, the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry Phone 781.245.2510 is hosting a Community breakfast on May 14th from 8:30-10:00 a.m. at the Americal Civic Center.

The event will engage Wakefield businesses, the community, government, school and faith-based supporters in an interactive discussion about how we can work together to increase the access to healthy food for Wakefield residents in need. The event is free and you can register at http://wifpbreakfast.eventbrite.com/?aff=efbevent

There will also be updates on the pantry’s current programming and partnerships and information about the many ways to get involved. A tour of the food pantry will also be offered at the end of the meeting.

Guest speakers include:

Dorothy Goodwin, Founder and President, Gathering Change, Inc.

Singer/Songwriter and former Food Pantry client Kevin G. Moore

tonneson + co organizers of the Tonneson + Co 2nd Annual 5k Race for Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry Kids First Program

All are welcome.  For more information, call 781.245.2510 or email info@wifoodpantry.org