This year, the Montgomery Farmers’ Market and the Society of St. Andrew have combated food waste while helping NEEDS to provide healthy produce for our clients. Pantry coordinator Maureen shared this story:

“The 2023 season at the Montgomery Farmers’ Market was an especially fruitful one for the NEEDS pantry. Vendors donated 5,343 pounds of fresh produce, bakery and prepared food — providing almost twice as much food for our needy neighbors as in 2022.  On top of that, market customers were able to pick up NEEDS brochures and make cash donations.

The Society of St. Andrew, a national gleaning organization, made this all possible for NEEDS. Society members collect farmers’ market donations across the country, and even go into the field to help farmers harvest — all in an effort to end food waste. Locally, Sue Plummer is Ohio’s Program Coordinator. This is the second year NEEDS has been the beneficiary of her team’s work. During the first season, NEDEDS volunteers picked up at the market each week. But this year, the society partnered with Last Mile Food Rescue to transport the food to NEEDS.

A warm thank you to Sue and her team of gleaners. And here’s to another fulfilling year of partnership ahead!”

Pantry coordinator Maureen recently shared this story of holiday generosity from one of our faithful member organizations:

“Each year, the families of Kenwood Baptist Church gather to celebrate Thanksgiving as a church family. The meal is the traditional one of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings. But the event extends so much further than the room itself.

This year, church members attending the dinner were asked to bring a donation of peanut butter and/or pasta sauce to help stock the NEEDS pantry for the busy holiday season ahead. And give they did! Offering bins were filled to the brim, and what was donated filled pantry shelves. In addition, holiday-themed notecards were placed on each table to be written to nursing home patients who weren’t able to join in the fellowship. Diners were also encouraged to post what they were most thankful for on a large Thanksgiving banner.

Kenwood Baptist Church provides the space in which the NEEDS pantry is located. But it does so much more to support the pantry’s efforts. Thank you, church members, for your generosity and support!”

Pantry coordinators Maureen and Janie shared another great story about young people helping in our community:

“The elementary school soccer players from All Saints and St. Vincent Ferrer parish schools do more than battle it out on the soccer field. They work hard to help their neighbors in need.

For three years now, the teams’ year-end celebration has included a drive to help stock the NEEDS pantry. Patrick Reardon, the league’s coordinator, takes care to contact the pantry each year for its list of most-needed items. This November, league volunteers delivered three carloads of donations — easily more than in the two preceding years.

We’re so grateful for all the effort by the teams’ volunteer staff members and players. Sportsmanship on steroids!”

Pantry coordinators Maureen and Janie shared this sweet story:

“Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has always been a faithful supporter of NEEDS and its food pantry. And now, even its littlest members are in on its efforts! The church’s well known preschool recently held a drive to help restock the NEEDS pantry. Michelle and Laurie, two of the school’s staff members, reached out to the pantry for our list of most-needed items and shared it with students’ families. The result? A full SUV of donations!

Beyond the value of the donations themselves, it’s gratifying to know that even the youngest among us are being taught to help their neighbors in need.

Thank you so much, Good Shepherd Lutheran Preschool!”

The feminine hygiene products that all women and their daughters need are not covered by SNAP benefits. But as most women know well, these products are expensive – and our donors rarely think to give them, so the NEEDS pantry has always had a hard time keeping them in stock.

Enter the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group at Montgomery Community Church. When coordinators Maggie Link and Brianna Hagen learned of the pantry’s need, they appealed to their members to donate. What NEEDS expected to be a modest donation turned out to be an entire SUV full of one of our most-needed items. 

Thank you, MOPS members! You’ve done a lot to help less fortunate women and girls.

Pantry coordinators Maureen and Janie recently shared this wonderful story:

“The pantry had closed for the day, and the last of our volunteers were leaving the building when an SUV pulled quickly into our drive-through. Volunteers thought it was a neighbor arriving late to pick up food. Then the woman driving said, ‘Are you still open? Is this where we drop donations?’

Clara Henderson, retail operations manager at the nearby Kroger Technology Center, said she was there with a delivery. And what a delivery it was! Her SUV was jam-packed with laundry detergent, shampoo, deodorant, feminine hygiene supplies, and non-perishable food.

Ms. Henderson and her colleague, Caitlin Moore, a loss prevention analyst, explained that their Kroger team had met and decided not to celebrate their own work, but to give a gift to the community. They looked up food pantries located in the area and found NEEDS. Rather than just donate random items, they checked our ‘Most Needed’ list to provide us with exactly what we requested.

Kroger’s local Montgomery store also gives to NEEDS every Sunday — donating produce, bakery, deli items, and meat.

Thank you, Kroger, for all you do for NEEDS!”