Treats and festive spirits

Judy’s Pantry offered its more than 35 clients some early Christmas spirit on Dec. 16, decking out the Sunshine Room with brownies, cookies, mulled cider and other holiday treats to go along with a wide selection of non-perishable foods.

The pantry is now on its winter schedule and will be open only on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. This was the last Tuesday they would be open before Christmas.

In addition to the Christmas treats, there were gift baskets with jams, jellies and other canned vegetables and fruits. The gift baskets were taken from one large basket that was donated to the pantry and then divided into smaller ones. Everyone who came to the pantry for the Thanksgiving offering put their names into a canister and then names were drawn on Tuesday for the winners of the gift baskets.

Pantry volunteer Joanne Woodward draws names from a canister held by pantry organizer Nancy Miles for winners of the gift baskets.

Also offered at Tuesday’s pantry were Christmas candles, a wide assortment of bows and jars of potpourri, all left over from the church’s Jolly Snowman Christmas Fair.

Everyone who came to the pantry on Tuesday also received a “Helping Hands” box of food donated by shoppers at the Mill Creek Hannaford.  Each box included canned chicken breast and green beans, macaroni and pasta sauce, soup, rice, cereal, peanut butter and oatmeal.

With fresh produce no longer available until late spring, the pantry needs our help with providing non-perishable items, including canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter and canned tuna, but also staples like toilet paper and Kleenex. If you are able to donate any of these items, please leave them in the shopping cart in Fellowship Hall.

With many of the canned goods that are are available to pantry clients, one of the pantry’s volunteers who is a trained nutritionist has provided healthy recipes with many of the products.

Thank you to Nancy Miles and all of her volunteers, including our church’s Nancy Johnson, for all they do to help so many to eat better meals.