Can you help out?

 

The Canton Food Pantry is running low on some pantry staples. Can you help out by purchasing some of these items for us?  Here is our wish list:

• breakfast cereals (all kinds)
• snacks
• pasta (box)
• pasta sauce (jars)
• Depends adult diapers (size large only)
• shampoo
• toothpaste

Non-perishable food, personal care items, and household products may be left at the Bank of Canton, Canton Co-operative Bank, Canton Public Library, Pratt Realtors and Envision Bank (Cobb Corner). Donations of food, including perishable items, may be dropped off at the pantry on Mondays only between 7-8:30 a.m.

Our deepest thanks to the many people who continue to support our food pantry, and, by extension, our friends and neighbors in need. We are grateful for all that you do. 

 

Thank you, Canton Robodogs!

We want to send out special thanks to the great efforts of the Canton Robodogs, the High School Robotics Team.  The team has been collecting, sorting and sanitizing LEGOs into small kits for use by children served by the Canton Food Pantry.

LEGOs are educational toys and they truly are the "building blocks" of future engineering and technical expertise.  The Canton Food Pantry is grateful to the Robodogs for stepping up this summer and thinking of the needs of their younger neighbors. 

 

A Big Thank You to Isabella and Julia!

We wish to offer our special thanks to Canton High School students Isabella Crugnale and Julia Wilkinson for the t-shirt fundraiser they organized to help raise money for the food pantry. These two young ladies worked together to make a difference for our neighbors, despite the challenges of the pandemic. A big thank you is in order to Mr. Amico. He has always encouraged students to give back to the community.  He is a wonderful mentor to all the students of Canton High School.  

 

Pool Passes for Food Pantry Clients

Pool passes for the new town swimming pool at 199 Bolivar Street are available to Canton Food Pantry clients at no charge. The pool, newly remodeled with a new bathhouse, and splash pad for children, offers easy access for all, with no steps to negotiate. 

Visit the Canton Recreation Department to pick up your passes. The rec department is located at 92 Pleasant Street. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm.  The telephone number is 781-821-5030. Passes are available beginning Monday, June 21, 2021. 

All clients will need to provide a valid ID in order to receive a pool pass. 

Available Position to Start ASAP

Co-Director (Volunteer Position)

Overview:

Play a key role in the important mission of providing valuable food accessibility, food security, and support to community members in need.  Build and cultivate relationships with volunteers and clients.  Co-manage all aspects of food inventory procurement, management, controls, and distribution. Ensure accurate record-keeping so reporting and audits run smoothly.  Tasks include:

• Maintain a clean, well-ordered and adequate food supply to provide the best quality food within budget
• Orient volunteers to inventory available and tasks to be done to prepare for smooth distribution.
• Oversee food pantry safety policies and procedures as established by the Greater Boston Food Bank, Canton’s Board of Health, and other agencies.
• Collaborate with constituents, including Town of Canton offices, in delivering quality customer service.
• Understand and navigate available resources to disseminate to those in need.

 

Qualifications/Skills:

Ability to exhibit good judgment, empathy, compassion, and a friendly demeanor.

Flexible, resourceful, and collegial approach and attitude.

Volunteer management, supervisory, and operations skills desired.

Ability to identify, address, and resolve issues.

Administrative - strong organizational skills required, basic data entry and budgeting knowledge helpful

.

Knowledge of how to review, update, streamline and document processes is a bonus.

 

Hours:  

On site commitment of 4 hours/week 

- Wednesdays, 8am-12pm

Off site, respond to email and voicemails on a daily basis

On occasion, may be asked to assist 

with coverage (Tuesday mornings)

Contact:

If interested, please contact Mary Buckley at CantonFoodPantry@gmail.com

 

Canton Food Pantry

Purpose:

Our purpose is to provide free food to eligible Canton residents.  We serve many individuals and families, on a temporary basis, who have been affected by economic problems.  The Canton Food Pantry is operated entirely by volunteers who wish to help their fellow townspeople, by providing a basic human necessity.

 

Sponsor:

The Canton Food Pantry is sponsored by the Canton Area Helpline, a private, non-profit corporation.

 

Current Food Pantry Hours

 Please note the following changes to Canton Food Pantry operations.

Non-Perishable food donations are accepted Mondays 7:00am-8:30am. Please do not leave donations outside the Pantry door when we are closed.

Other locations accepting food donations:

Janet Pratt Realtor (Monday-Friday 9:00am-4:00pm) 

Canton Co-Operative Bank and Bank of Canton (banking hours) 

Shaw's Supermarket, Entrance and Exit Area

When shopping for donation items, make sure to choose undamaged and unopened packaging, and donate before the labelled expiration date is up. Dented, rusted, or damaged packaging means that food inside might be spoiled and should be thrown out. When in doubt, throw it out. It might seem like a caring gesture to donate homemade foods for your local food drive, but food banks can't accept any foods that aren't commercially packaged. 

Top Items Needed:

• Juices (all kinds)
• Hash, beef stew
• Tuna fish (white)
• Canned beans
• Jam and jelly
• Snacks (all kinds)
• Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard, etc)
• Depends/size large and extra large
• Diaper wipes
• Toothpaste
• Laundry detergent

Donations are tax-deductible amnd may be mailed to:

Canton Area Helpline. PO Box 202, Canton, MA 02021 

In the memo line, please write "FOOD"

If you wish to donate to the Helpline of the Food Pantry:

Please visit the Canton town website: https://www.town.canton.ma.us/193/Canton-Food-Pantry

Click the yellow Donate button at the top of the Canton Food Pantry page to make a donation with your debit or credit card through Paypal.

If you donate through Paypal, remember to fill in the "Instructions from Buyer" by writing in "FOOD".

Canton Food Pantry Social Media Announcement- 3/23/2020
As we watch the COVID-19 situation evolve, the Canton Food Pantry is making plans to meet the communities needs. During March, we plan to be open on Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:15am-11:15am to serve the needs of our currently registered clients. We ask that when you arrive you please follow the social distancing guidelines outside of the food pantry doors. Volunteers will sign you in and bring pre-bagged items to the outside door of the food pantry to supplement people’s food needs. Client choice of food items and shopping within the food pantry has been suspended until further notice.  
If you are a community member interested in donating, we are asking that you log on to the Town of Canton website and donate online. Monetary donations will allow the food pantry to purchase food and products that will be provided to our community members that are registered at the Canton Food Pantry. At this time, the donation of non-perishable food items to the Canton Food Pantry has been temporarily suspended due to the limited access to the lobbies of our drop off locations. We thank you for your support!
If you have additional questions please email them to cantonfoodpantry@gmail.com
Thank you for your cooperation and support in these rapidly changing times! 
The Canton Food Pantry Volunteers

Thank you - Update

Thank you!!
The Food Pantry would like to thank those of you who have donated food, money and other resources over the past few weeks as we respond to the Covid19 virus. Many are feeling the effects of this pandemic and because of your response, we have had the resources to help those in our community that have needed it. To keep everyone safe we are prepackaging essentials for our clients to help them get thru the week. As this situation continues we hope to maintain this process with your help. If you would like to give a monetary donation you can do so thru this link on the Town of Canton website. All monetary donations fund the purchase of food for the pantry from the Greater Boston Food Bank. Also if anyone works for a business that could possibly donate unused shopping bags please contact the pantry at 781-821-8062 or by email cantonfoodpantry@gmail.com

Our devoted volunteers recognized at our appreciation meeting tonight.

Follow us on our new Facebook page -  cantonmafoodpantry   keep up to date with our news and donation requests.

Thank you to the student of the Adult Education program at Blue Hills for their hard work and generous donation recently to the Food Pantry

Food Insecurity in MA

What is food insecurity and what does it look like in America?

Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods. 

In Massachusetts, 652,760 people are struggling with hunger - and of them 167,450 are children.

1 in 10 people struggles with hunger.   1 in 8 children struggles with hunger.

People facing hunger in Massachusetts are estimated to report needing $376,759,000 more per year to meet their food needs.

The average cost of a meal in Massachusetts is $3.38. 

Data from Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap 2016 from the Feeding America web site