Organizing an altogether different kind of North Shore dining experience. By Kiley Jacques
Food pantries nationwide tend to have a lot of empty shelves these days, and, for less fortunate members of our community, serving a special holiday meal can be downright undoable. Recognizing the problem and, in an effort to bring to the fore the warm-hearted spirit of holiday giving, the Northshore staff is collecting in-house food donations on behalf of Lazarus House Ministries, Inc. http://www.lazarushouse.org/food
As our little box of canned contributions started to fill, there was talk of food banks and the kind of work they do. Given we devote many of our pages to the North Shore’s great eateries, we thought it made sense to give this one to another kind of food expert: The North Shore Hunger Network.
With the mission to alleviate the impact of hunger on the North Shore’s disadvantaged, the umbrella organization oversees operations of eleven food pantries from Amesbury to Beverly. For over twenty years The North Shore Hunger Network has represented agencies working to provide nutrition and advocacy services to people in need. Cuts in social services spending slice deep into non-profit organizations like the Hunger Network. Recent years have seen an increased reliance on private donations, which means rifling through the cupboards for those items that never seem to get eaten, or heading to the market and picking out a few “3 for 1” sale items really helps.
We’ve learned it’s easy to get people to give a few cans (and sometimes inspires giving that goes beyond the perimeter of the food bin). But, for starters, consider organizing a miniature food drive. A company-wide email, a list of donation ideas posted in the lunchroom, a sturdy box, and a quick delivery run to a nearby pantry-it’s that simple. With such little effort, a holiday meal could land on an otherwise empty table. When we think of all the great food coming out of North Shore chefs’ kitchens, it feels good to pull a little something out of our own.
For a complete list of North Shore food pantries accepting donations, please visit: http://www.foodpantry.org/01_About_Us/Service_Area.html
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