Early Thanksgiving at the Pantry

Judy’s Pantry and a food drive throughout Cape Elizabeth brought ingredients for a full Thanksgiving dinner to 50 families who often have trouble making ends meet.

On Nov. 14, the church’s Fellowship Hall was filled with bags of fresh produce and bins stacked with pies, stuffing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, cornbread mix, gravy, soups, biscuit mix, hot chocolate mix, sparkling cider, Jello, and certificates to purchase a turkey.

Volunteers coordinated the produce bags with deeply discounted purchases from Jordan’s Farm. The bins of food were the result of the food drive coordinated by Amy Lombardo and Jen Tinsman and filled by families throughout the Cape.

In addition to the produce and bins of food, each client of the Pantry was given the choice of taking home two mini loaves of homemade breads, ranging from pumpkin and apple spice to lemon poppy seed and gingerbread. There were 100 breads from which clients could select — half of which were baked by members of our church.

The bags of produce from Jordan’s included potatoes, carrots, onions, apples and squash. Each bag was decorated with a festive Thanksgiving theme by Lisa Stevens.

After long-time Pantry Coordinator Nancy Miles retired last year, this year’s Thanksgiving event was coordinated by Joanne Woodward, organized by Jean Hayes, and brought to life by a team of spirited volunteers.

In addition to the 50 bins of food from the Cape Food Drive that went to the Pantry, an additional 100 bins were delivered to Opportunity Alliance in Portland.

Thank you to all for making this possible!