Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard
Thank you for all your feedback about our new website and about the new Local Pantry. Your support, encouragement, and engagement in what we are doing is very much welcomed.
This is National Volunteers’ Week so feels like a great time to say a big THANK YOU to our team of wonderful willing volunteers, without whom none of our activities would be possible. You are just brilliant!
Unsurprisingly, as the rising cost of living puts pressure on many household budgets, the need for emergency food parcels has risen. 99 were distributed during May; 9 were delivered direct to people in immediate crisis and 90 were distributed by 9 partner agencies. We have been pleased to be able to support some Ukrainian families being hosted locally.
Of course, we can’t do any of this without the generosity of local donors and we are very grateful to you all for your reliable donations, even while your own household costs are rising. If you are in a position to continue to help us, these are the items that we are currently running low on…
Please remember that we can’t take homemade food items as we can’t verify the food safety and hygiene of the setting in which they are prepared. We hope you understand.
The Local Pantry has now been running for 4 weeks and is proving a great success. Every Tuesday morning we receive our delivery of surplus supermarket food from FareShare South West. The team leaps into action sorting and dividing up the food ready for the 30 member households to collect in the afternoon. It’s a quick turnaround but means that fresh food gets from FareShare’s chiller van to our chiller cabinets and then straight to household fridges and dinner tables as quickly as possible and at minimum cost to our members. The 30 places available were all taken up by the end of week 2 and we are now holding a waiting list. Places become available as people’s circumstances change, and all members are encouraged to give up their place at 6 months so that others can benefit from this opportunity.
Our Facebook page is a great way of sharing ideas about what can be done with the fresh food received. You’ll see pictures of what our creative members have done with the recent abundance of radishes and spinach!
Any non-perishable food items are gratefully received. This month we are low on:
- Savoury biscuits/snacks
- Tinned spaghetti/macaroni
- Packets of rice
- Small bottles of squash
- Small jars coffee
- Tinned fruit
- UHT milk (1pt and 2pt)
Thank you all for the part that you play
From Ali and the Food Cupboard team
