Are you planning a Food Drive to benefit FOM Friends Feeding Friends?
Areas of greatest need:
Single-serving snacks
Canned fruit
Dried fruit
Jams & Jellies (not grape please, we have a lot of this)
Hearty Soups
Cranberry Sauce
Stuffing Mixes
Evaporated Milk
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Pie Crust
Canned Corn
As the weather cools down, we are thankful that donations are beginning to heat up.
Friends of Mascoma Foundation (FOM) is currently in the process of supplying food for 30 Thanksgiving boxes for Indian River School and contributing to 50 Thanksgiving boxes assembled by the National Honor Society at Mascoma Valley Regional High School. Any needs beyond these boxes will be covered by the Mascoma Valley Ecumenical Council Thanksgiving Ingathering. FOM is acquiring the majority of the turkeys for the Thanksgiving Ingathering thanks to their partnership with the New Hampshire Food Bank and has facilitated the donation of 1800 lb. of squash and 450 lb. of potatoes from the Grafton County Department of Corrections Farm to the Ingathering.
As soon a those 3 waves of Thanksgiving drive-related items are transferred, Friends of Mascoma is going to immediately dive into assembling items for the 100 boxes to be distributed by Mascoma Valley Emergency Services (Enfield, Canaan, and Grafton) as part of their Christmas Toy Drive giveaway to families in need. This happens at the beginning of December.
Community Lutheran Church received seed funding from Thrivent Financial and quickly turned it into milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, baking mixes, frosting, and vegetable oil to kick of their Feed the Northeaster Challenge Food Drive. TDuring the month of October, they collected and delivered over 800 items to the Canaan Pantry and an additional $500 matching grant from Thrivent Northeast will be awarded to FOM soon. This $500 match from Thrivent will go a long way as Friends of Mascoma can purchase standard items through the NH Food Bank for about $0.10 per pound. $500 can turn into 5000 lb. of food for our community.
Enfield-Mascoma Lioness also completed a recent food drive and will be sharing some of the donations with Friends Feeding Friends and other local food pantries.
Watch for news on upcoming Stuff-a-Bus and NHS Food Drive, BSA Troop 44 Scouting for Food Camp Out, Community Balanced Life, and Thanksgiving Ingathering efforts to collect food for our neighbors over the next month as we approach the holiday season.
Every donation is hugely appreciated and needed as FOM works to share resources throughout the Mascoma Valley. The ongoing food needs in our community remain critical.
Please share the news about these important efforts to combat food insecurity in the Mascoma Valley with those you know.
