On Sunday November 9th 10am, the RE children will be packing bags for our Thanksgiving Food Distribution. We invite all folks to bring in a food donation from the list! Bring the food to the pews with you, and children will collect in grocery carts up and down the aisles. We will then bring the items to Fellowship Hall and begin our annual “Thanksgiving Fixing Bag” assembly.

Items to bring: Gravy, instant mashed potatoes, vegetables( bags of carrots or a squash, canned yams, green beans), sweet bread /dessert mix, stuffing, gift card to a local grocery store. Thank YOU!

UUCW RE Team

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On Saturday, September 20, the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry will celebrate its 30th year of operation! In September 1995, LFFP opened its doors (now closed) at St. John’s Episcopal Church to 7 families. UUCW graciously agreed to house LFFP in 2009. And the rest, as they say, is history! So many amazing volunteers from St. John’s, UUCW, St. George’s, Immanuel Lutheran, First Presbyterian, local Scout Troops, High School Honor Societies – the list goes on – has made the pantry a successful and compassionate community resource.

If you feel so inclined to honor this milestone Anniversary, consider donating THIRTY: 30 dollars, a $30 gift card to a local grocery store, 30 non perishable food products, 30 rolls of toilet paper, etc.  Our guests who use the pantry on September 20 will receive something “extra.”

We thank you for your support over the years. Contact the Food Pantry to become involved!

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We are so excited to share that, for the entire month of September, Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry at UUCW has been selected by store leadership to benefit from the Stop & Shop’s Bloomin’ 4 Good Program, created to fight hunger across the communities served by Stop & Shop.

For the month of September, the purchase of a $10.99 bouquet in the sleeve marked “Bloomin’ 4 Good” from the Stop & Shop at 940 West Boylston Street, Worcester MA will brighten a home or make someone’s day while also directing a $1 donation to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry.

This is a great way to broaden awareness in the local community and raise donations for our organization to help fight hunger.

Let’s get started! Share the news with friends and family. Call, send emails, and post on social media. The more bouquets sold, the greater the donation we will receive from Stop & Shop!

To learn more about this program, please visit stopandshop.2givelocal.com.

The post Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry News – September 2024 – Stop & Shop Bloomin’ 4 Good Program first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Please keep our Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in your mind as you shop in June! Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry will receive $1 from every specially marked $2.50 reusable Community Bag sold during the month of June 2024 at:

Big Y
160 Reservoir Street Rt 31, Holden MA

Thank you for supporting our clients!!

More information about this program is available HERE.

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Please keep our Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in your mind as you prepare for your Thanksgiving festivities! Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry will receive $1 from every specially marked $10.99 Bloomin’ 4 Good bouquet sold during the month of November 2023 at:

Stop & Shop
545 Lincoln Street, Worcester MA
940 West Boylston Street, Worcester MA

If you are decorating your holiday table with fresh flowers, please keep our clients in mind and support this worthy initiative. In addition, please remember that the Pantry is in need of gift cards to your favorite grocery store so that we can hep make everyone have a Thanksgiving celebration. Thank you for supporting our clients!!

More information about this program is available HERE.

The post Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry News – November 1, 2023 – Stop & Shop Bloomin’ 4 Good Program first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry has been selected by the Store Leadership Team to receive $1 from every $10.99 Bloomin’ 4 Good bouquet sold during the month of  June 2023 at:

Stop & Shop
940 West Boylston Street, Worcester MA

More information about this program is available HERE.

The post Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry News – May 23, 2023 – Stop & Shop Bloomin’ 4 Good Program first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

In March 2020, the SNAP program began giving an approximate $200 a month extra to their recipients. This ended on March 2, 2023. The recipients are now receiving their benefit amount which preceded the pandemic. A single elderly person now receives $23. This fact, coupled with today’s high costs, leaves many people without access to sufficient food.

The Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry continues to serve approximately 65 households a month.

We are asking you to help us meet the needs of our clients in the following ways:

1. Grocery store gift cards, in any denomination, are always welcome. You can put cards in an envelope clearly marked “Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry” and drop in the grey mailbox next to the Office at the Church.
2. We pick up food at the Worcester County Food Bank in Shrewsbury at 12:30 PM on the Friday before the Saturday distribution (which is the third Saturday of each month). It is the middle of the day and it involves some heavy lifting, but we need your help. If you would like to find out more, contact Denise Darrigrand at: denise dot darrigrand at gmail dot com
3. We are trying to cut back purchasing paper bags both because of the high cost of the bags as well as the environmental impact. We welcome your sturdy reusable plastic bags and also if you have used paper bags with handles, you can drop them off in the large, white, Loaves and Fishes donation box in Fellowship Hall.

If you are interested in any further information, please contact us at: foodpantry@uucworcester.org

The post The Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry Needs Your Help! first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

We are taking this opportunity to let you know what’s happening with the Pantry. 52 households came to our October distribution. That means we were able to offer lots of meats, produce, dry goods and miscellaneous. Thanks to some generous donors, we are even able to accommodate to a limited extent some special diets. All of this requires a great deal of cooperative effort. Due to the “curbside “ distribution method that we use, we are in good shape for our Saturday volunteers. However the prep work on Friday needs some strong backs and willing hands. If you are available on the third Friday of the month and are able to lift heavy boxes, we need you! We pick up food at the Food Bank in Shrewsbury at 12:30PM. Then we unload the truck at the Church around 2PM. Then at 5PM we need people to help set up the bags for distribution to our households. If you would like to add your name (and strength) to our list of volunteers, please let us know through this email: foodpantry@uucworcester.org

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This Sunday, November 14th- Please bring your Thanksgiving Food donations into the sanctuary with you, as our children will collect them at the beginning of the service.  We will then pack Thanksgiving “Fixing” Bags to give out to our food pantry clients.  Thank You!

The post Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry Food Donation Drive – November 14 first appeared on Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Help us fill Thanksgiving Fixing Bags for our food pantry clients!

Place your donation into the box in the foyer on November 7th or bring your donation into the sanctuary with you on November 14th, for the kids’ collection.  We are looking for non- perishable items like: stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, instant mashed potato, green bean casserole ingredients, yams, dessert mix or quick bread.   Thank you!

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