Tag Archives: Little Free Pantry

How to help feed our neighbors in need

25 Nov

During this Thanksgiving season, we need to all remember that not everyone in our community was able to sit down to a plentiful dinner on Thursday. Even here in Webster, many families simply do not have enough to eat, and children are going hungry.

Two local agencies are working hard to help out as much as they can, during the holidays AND all year ’round. Read on for some information about Webster HOPE and the Webster Community Chest and how you can help them help our community.

Webster HOPE

The mission of Webster HOPE is to serve the needs of residents in the 14580 zip code, providing food, clothing, household goods and furniture. Financial assistance, with the emphasis on preventing homelessness, is also available.

Webster HOPE is located at 1450 Ridge Rd., adjacent to Holy Trinity church. They gladly accept donations of nonperishable food, hygiene products, gently used clothing, and monetary donations. (You can even click here to donate through their PayPal site.)

They’d also love to have more volunteers to help stock the food pantry, work in the garden, organize the clothing closet or work with the clients. Email websternyhope@gmail.com to find out how you can help.

Here are a couple of other easy ways to help out in the next several days:

  • Tuesday Nov. 29 is ROC the Day. Webster HOPE is participating for the first time and hoping to raise $5,000 to cover food costs for a whole month. Log onto www.ROCtheDay.org to donate.
  • Shop with Amazon Smile. Designate Webster NY Hope as your charity of choice and every time you shop on Amazon a donation will be made.
  • Look for the Webster HOPE donation table set up in front of Village Hall on Saturday Dec. 3 during Webster’s Winter Wonderland. Click on the flyer below for a wish list of food and clothing items.

To read more about Webster HOPE, check out their website and Facebook page.

Webster Community Chest

For almost 75 years, the Webster Community Chest (WCC) has provided information and referrals, emergency financial assistance, food assistance, summer camp scholarships, high school senior awards for community service, and financial aid to organizations whose programs benefit Webster residents. Like Wester HOPE, the agency serves the 14580 zip code area.

This year alone, the Webster Community Chest provided

  • 878 meals to the elderly through Meals on Wheels
  • 475 meals to families
  • six high school scholarships
  • four vanloads of food to Webster HOPE
  • summer camperships
  • therapeutic services for disabled children

plus they helped 49 families avoid being evicted from their homes.

The Webster Community Chest’s annual fund drive is underway right now. To find out more about the agency and how you can help, visit their website here.

Bonnie Reynolds from WCC also just told me about a great event the agency is sponsoring next week at the Webster Public Library. She wrote,

Girl Scouts Reis Arnold and Ainsley Smith of Troop 60415 spearheaded a food drive for our Food Giveaway to be held at the Public Library on Monday Nov. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m.

People can come in and grab a bag which has ingredients for three meals, plus a recipe card. Some of the meals are themed and include Pizza Night and Italian Night. Other meals are Shepherds Pie, Taco Chicken and BBQ Chicken. The girls will be there to help distribute the bags. 

Webster Community Chest Webster Community Chest does not have a permanent home for their food pantry right now. But they do have a storage room and will be hosting pop-up food give-aways for now. We are also searching for places to put food donation boxes and for people to organize these food collections, so if you know anyone who can help …..?

Little Free Pantries

Have you heard about “Little Free Food Pantries”? They’re a great twist on Little Free Libraries. These are small, stand-alone pantries filled with non-perishable food items, where the concept is “take what you need, leave what you can.”

There are six pantries in the Webster area. Five are hosted by church congregations and can be found in the church parking lots. They’re at the Webster Baptist Church on South Ave, Immanuel Lutheran Church on West Main St., the United Church of Christ on Klem Rd., St. Martin’s Lutheran Church on Bay Rd. and Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Plank Rd. The sixth can be found at Phillips Village.

Donations can be made at any time; just drive up, open the pantry and put in your donations. So maybe next time you head to Wegmans, consider picking an extra half dozen cans of veggies, a few boxes of cereal, maybe some spaghetti, and swing by one of these pantries on the way home.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram.

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(posted 11/25/2022)

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Giving back on this Thanksgiving Day

25 Nov

A reader messaged me the other day, asking where she might find a neighborhood food pantry where her family could make a food donation. It got me thinking that many people out there could benefit from that information, especially at this time of year when we’re feeling so thankful for what we have, and want to help those in our community who are not so fortunate.

HOPE Ministry, housed at Holy Trinity Church, is the largest food pantry currently operating in town. The ministry has an extensive pantry, complete with fresh produce, and is open four days a week for any Webster resident who needs assistance.

Donations of food, hygiene and cleaning products are accepted during their open hours (but please no household donations). Hours are Monday 5 to 7 p.m.; Tuesday 10 a.m. to noon; Wednesday 3 to 5 p.m.; and Thursday 5 to 7 p.m.

Their current wish list includes:

  • chunky soup
  • canned cannellini beans
  • canned mixed vegetables
  • canned pineapple
  • body wash
  • aluminum foil

HOPE Ministry also has two floors of clothing for all ages and in all sizes. They’re always in need of gently used children’s clothing, toddler underwear and socks, and right now would love to get more hats and gloves (especially men’s).

HOPE Ministry is located at Holy Trinity Church, 1460 Ridge Rd., and there’s a cart outside for “contactless” donations.

Webster is also home to four “little free food pantries.” These are small, stand-alone pantries filled with non-perishable food items, where the concept is “take what you need, leave what you can.”

The pantries are hosted by the congregations of four local churches and can be found in the church parking lots. They’re at the Webster Baptist Church on South Ave, Immanuel Lutheran Church on West Main St., the United Church of Christ on Klem Rd., and St. Martin’s Church on Bay Rd.

Donations can be made at any time; just drive up, open the pantry and put in your donations. So maybe next time you head to Wegmans you pick up an extra half dozen cans of veggies, a few boxes of cereal, maybe some extra spaghetti, and swing by one of these pantries on the way home.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. May your day be filled with family and the blessings that life brings.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

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Immanuel Lutheran food drive a big success

28 Aug

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by Immanuel Lutheran Church last weekend to donate to the church’s food drive. Ed Huehn, one of the drive’s organizers, reports that it was a great success.

Immanuel Lutheran, located at 131 W. Main Street in the Village of Webster, has been a longtime sponsor of the Webster Schools’ Weekend Food Backpack Program, which provides bags of food for more than 70 children in all seven of the district’s elementary schools.

The church also is home to one of the town’s several Little Free Pantries. These tall cabinets, which resemble very large Little Free Libraries, are placed in parking lots or other public places, and packed with food and toiletry items. Based on a “take what you need, leave what you can” philosophy, community members in need can stop by at any time and help themselves to whatever they can use.

When the schools all closed in March, and backpack food deliveries could no longer be made, the church community shifted distribution to the Little Free Pantry in their parking lot.

Before last Saturday’s food drive, Ed said, both their pantry and storeroom were almost empty. But by the end of the day, they were full again thanks to the generosity of our Webster community members. All the donations will be used to restock the pantry daily, and start up the Weekend Food Backpack Program again when school buildings reopen.

WHAM-Channel 13 stopped by and posted a short story on the effort. You can see that here.

How you can help

If you missed the food drive but would still like to help out, the church continues to accept donations for their hunger ministry initiatives. According to their website,

Items that can be donated to the pantry include non-perishable foods such as pasta, cereal, pancake mix, soups, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, sugar, and flour. Personal hygiene and toiletry items such as soap, tooth paste, deodorant, toilet paper and diapers. Children’s coloring books and crayons can also items that can help out a family.

Just recently, Immanuel Lutheran added a large produce stand next to their pantry. If you have an extra garden vegetables this summer, they would also be very welcome.

Immanuel Lutheran Church’s Little Free Pantry, located in the church’s parking lot, with a brand new companion produce stand.

Webster’s other Little Free Pantries are located at St. Martin on Bay Road, Webster Baptist Church in the Village of Webster and the United Church of Christ on Klem Road. Any one of these organizatons would greatly appreciate your donations.

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