In our last issue, we celebrated Amesbury as a Food-Secure City. Through partnerships with schools, city services, social service partners, and hundreds of private citizens, ONT has helped raise awareness of food insecurity in Amesbury and has created and sustains a network of resources to provide food for all residents in need. Today, I am thrilled to report that ONT is well on its way to mobilizing neighboring communities to do the same. Over the last eight months, ONT has convened the Food Security Advisory Group and its Assessment Working Group to develop a plan to better understand where and why food insecurity persists in our region. We launched this assessment in July and will issue a first round of findings later this Fall.
 
While we work with our partners to gain this knowledge, we are simultaneously piloting new programs and projects, building new partnerships and using our experience, lessons from national leaders to strengthen the existing network of food resources across our region.
 
The thought of declaring our entire region as food-secure is both incredible and entirely possible. Our experience in the City of Amesbury, and in just the short time of engaging community members in Newburyport has demonstrated that one of our region’s greatest strengths is the motivation of its citizens to mobilize and take care of one another. ONT experienced that eagerness first-hand in 2016 when we raised $1.1 million to open the Jardis-Taylor Center, and again this June. With 10 days left in our Spring Appeal, we put out a call to community members to meet a $10,000 challenge match. Well, the community answered and raised the bar – raising $21,000! ONT secured it’s $10,000 matching gift and finished the Spring Appeal well over its goal, having raised $113,000! To everyone who made a donation, helped spread the word, or volunteered in our programs putting those dollars to work, I thank you. I thank you on behalf of the thousands of guests, particularly the 900 children who have come to know that their community will be here to keep their bodies nourished and nurtured.
 
I am personally excited at the potential we hold to ensure every one of our neighbors never has to worry about going hungry. And I hope – I know – you are too. I look forward to sharing our ongoing progress with you and invite you to get involved – volunteer in our programs; take a tour of our groundbreaking market; join us at Fill ‘Em Up Fest September 8, and at our Annual Breakfast in October; and become a sustaining donor. You’d be amazed at what we can accomplish with just $25 a month.
 
                                                                                              Here’s to a Path to Food Security!
                                                                                                             Lyndsey Haight
                                                                                                            Executive Director

​​Over the last 8 months, the Food Security Advisory Group (FSAG) has convened and declared food insecurity an important issue in our region. More importantly, the members of the group have agreed that time and resources need to be dedicated to understanding and addressing hunger and food security for all residents. Working through its Regional Assessment Working Group, member agencies and municipalities have launched the first phase of our regional food security assessment. Surveys are being administered at Anna Jaques Hospital, Children’s Health Care, local Councils on Aging and online to start to understand where and why local residents experience barriers to getting enough food and getting enough nutritious food.

We need your help to Run Out Hunger! Runners (or non-runners!) of all abilities are invited to support ONT and get a VIP experience for the Newburyport Half Marathon on October 21. Each runner commits to raising a minimum of $500 to support Our Neighbors' Table, which will provide more than 500 meals to the community. Personalized online giving pages are available to easily collect donations from your family, friends, and co-workers.
Never run a half marathon before? No problem - we have you covered! Studio Five in Rowley is offering coaching to support your training to get you across the finish line.

​Thank you to these Great Neighbors for making a big impact on hunger. Join their ranks and become a Great Neighbor today!

ONT’s 2020 Strategic Plan lays a Path to Food Security, focusing on the communities of Newburyport, Salisbury and Merrimac, where current data demonstrates greatest need. The core component of ONT’s success in creating a food-secure Amesbury and expanding regional food security is its strategic partnerships with public and private institutions and with private citizens. ONT has convened local leaders to form the Food Security Advisory Group. Members include Anna Jaques Hospital, Children’s Health Care, Mayor Holaday (Newburyport), Mayor Gray (Amesbury), superintendents and school personnel from the Newburyport, Merrimac, Pentucket and Triton school districts, the Merrimac Police Department, Pettengill House, Newburyport and Salisbury Councils on Aging, and the Greater Boston Food Bank.
 
Over the last 8 months, the Food Security Advisory Group (FSAG) has convened and declared food insecurity an important issue in our region. More importantly, the members of the group have agreed that time and resources need to be dedicated to understanding and addressing hunger and food security for all residents. Working through its Regional Assessment Working Group, member agencies and municipalities have launched the first phase of our regional food security assessment. Surveys are being administered at Anna Jaques Hospital, Children’s Health Care, local Councils on Aging, libraries and online to start to understand where and why local residents experience barriers to getting enough food and getting enough nutritious food.
 
“Current research shows that 80% of illnesses and hospitalizations are tied directly to the food that we eat,” shares Dr. Gail Fayre, Chief Medical Officer at Anna Jaques Hospital. “Our joint efforts will help inform best practices to address local need.”
 
Over the next two years, ONT and the FSAG will focus on uncovering areas of unmet need and developing creative strategies to ensure no one falls through the cracks. “Our region is fortunate to have a number of food resources available. The challenge is understanding why people do not or can not participate in these resources and if the existing programs are best suited to meet their need,” states Lyndsey Haight. “But we are deeply encouraged by the interest and commitment of local leaders to solve this problem.”
 
For more information about the Food Security Advisory Group or how you can get involved with the regional assessment, please contact ONT Executive Director, Lyndsey Haight, at lyndsey@ourneighborstable.org.

Have you ever wondered how Our Neighbors’ Table gets all of its food? Well, a large part of it comes from the Greater Boston Food Bank located in South Boston. And thanks to Amesbury resident and ONT volunteer Mike Pollard, it arrives at our Market and into the shopping carts of our guests. Twice a week, Mike drives the ONT box truck down to Boston and brings it back to the Jardis-Taylor Center full of pallets of fresh produce, dairy, meat, and non-perishable items. Mike logs over 165 miles per week for ONT and we would be lost without him!

Mike has been volunteering for ONT for a long time—so long in fact, he can’t remember when he started! He thinks it’s been about four or five years. He began volunteering after he retired from his career as a self-employed chimney sweep. “I had a lot of time on my hands,” Mike said. “I liked the idea of driving. I was a little involved in social programs before but was frustrated not knowing if I was doing things effectively. Driving a truck is straight forward, and I know I’m doing it right.”
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Mike is also a key piece of the Merrimac Mobile Market. He drives the truck full of fresh produce and wholesome food to the Merrimac Senior Center one Saturday a month. Mike has a valued volunteerism for much of his life. He served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in 1970 with New Hampshire Legal Services. When he’s not volunteering with ONT, Mike enjoys exercising, reading, spending time with his wife and finding the best baked goods to satisfy his sweet tooth.
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When asked why he volunteers Mike says, “I like giving to the community. It makes me feel good and it’s satisfying. I like being reliable and I believe providing food to people is really important.”
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Want to volunteer like Mike? Complete our volunteer application and we'll get you started! 

Our Neighbors' Table's Summer Lunch Program has fed 541 so far this summer. This a 45% increase from the number of kids served in 2017! 

Now in it's 8th year, ONT's Summer Lunch Program is taking the fear of hunger out of summer and providing healthy meals and snacks to children across the region. Summer is a time of fun, a time to relax from the stress of school, a time to just be a kid. But for more than 2,400 children living in the Lower Merrimack Valley, summer means no school - and no school breakfast and lunch. 

Across the region, 1 out of every 8 school children lives in a food-insecure home. For these families, it is already a struggle to afford enough food to feed their children during the school year. At an average cost of $3/meal, the cost of feeding each child for the 9 weeks of summer vacation is $300. Compounded with costs of summer camp and childcare, the loss of school lunches quickly turns summer fun into summer angst.

ONT is proud to provide relief to these families, and to do so with wholesome, nutritious foods that children WILL eat! ONT's market serves families living in northeastern Essex County (see list of eligible towns below) with a genuine weekly shopping experience throughout the year featuring a full array of grocery staples, meats/fish, dairy, and LOTS of fresh produce. The Summer Lunch Program provides each enrolled family with even more groceries specifically for breakfast, lunch and snack foods - foods like fresh oranges, cherries, grapes, carrots, hummus, peanut butter and jelly, wheat bread, lunch meat, milk, eggs, and cereal. Families enrolled in the SLP get BOTH the program items and access to the complete market!

Parents from last year's program shared how the program helped them:
"Summer is hard financially because the kids are home and eat twice as much. God bless and thank you."
"Very helpful with two small children, especially most of the fresh food."
"[The program gave us] more options and stretched [our] food availability"
"My SNAP benefits didn't come this month so I needed everything!"

Whether kids are home for the summer, at daycare, or at summer camp, their parents can get them started with a wholesome breakfast and pack them healthy, nutritious lunches to keep their bellies full and their energy strong to run, jump, and enjoy the summer just like every other kid.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT:
Every $1 donated to the Summer Lunch Program provides 1 more meal to our kids. Make a donation now! Kids now have the opportunity to help their peers struggling with hunger by starting a Fill Em Up Bag! The $25 collected will provide breakfast and lunch for a kid for a howl month! Read more about how you can get your kids involved in giving back to their community. 

The mission of Our Neighbors’ Table is to establish a community that provides for the whole person, with nourishing food, kindness and dignity. Today, we celebrate doing just that. On Tuesday, May 8th, before the City Council, Our Neighbors’ Table will recognize the City of Amesbury for its creativity and resolve to ensure no one in the City has to go hungry.
 
​This is a tremendous accomplishment of which the entire City of Amesbury should feel proud. What began as a small group of local volunteers putting on a community meal, has evolved into a lifeline providing food to more than 1 out of 12 Amesbury residents for the last four consecutive years.
 
Please join us a the May 8th City Council Meeting, Amesbury City Hall, 7:00pm to celebrate this achievement. And thank YOU for all you do to create a food secure community.
                                                                Lyndsey Haight
                                                                Executive Director

For more than 2,400 children living in our region summer means no school - and no school breakfast and lunch. In 2017, Our Neighbors’ Table provided 388 kids with healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks through the Summer Lunch Program. This is a 100% increase in kids served from the previous summer and we expect the program to grow even more in 2018.
How can you help support the Summer Lunch Program? 
1. Donate most needed Summer Lunch items at Chamber of Commerce Food Drive at Stop & Shop Amesbury on Saturday, May 5 from 10am - 2pm.
 2. Make a Fill Em Up Bag! Kids decorate their bags and ask friends and family to help fill it. The goal is to collect $25, which will provide breakfast and lunch to a child for a whole month. This is a great opportunity for kids to understand the of community service and value of helping others!

Thank you to all of the restaurants who offered their guests the opportunity to donate a virtual meal to ONT. Over $5,000 was raised to fill your neighbors' plates!

​Our March campaign might be over, but Loretta is offering the virtual meal donation the first Tuesday of every month and will also be donating 15% of their proceeds to ONT.

​The Table to Table campaign is a great opportunity for you to open your home to friends and family to raise awareness of and funds to support ONT's food assistance programs. Now in it's second year, Table to Table has raised over $25,000 since it's inception. You could host anything from a small dinner party to a BBQ for 50. If you're interested in hosting to help put more food on the tables of your neighbors, contact Lesley today! 

Rose Sheehan volunteers primarily in the Our Neighbors’ Table office, though she says with a smile she will always help “wherever I’m needed.” Rose joined the ONT volunteer corps a few months ago after reading about ONT online and hearing good reviews from friends. Rose is 18 and currently taking a gap year after graduating from Pingree Academy. “I have a lot of free time right now,” said Rose, “I’m figuring myself out and am happy to have the opportunity to give back to my community.”

​Rose’s first day volunteering with ONT left a lasting impression on her. She was helping in the market as a Customer Service Representative and one of the first guests to come in have her a big hug. After that she was hooked! Rose previously volunteered with the Food Project, working at farmers’ markets and social and food justice workshops, and is currently involved with the Newburyport Literary Festival. During her time volunteering in the ONT office, Rose has learned administrative skills and has gained insight into non-profit work which may inform her future career choices. We are grateful for Rose’s help at ONT!

The ONT WEE Can Help! program offers special shifts tailored for volunteers ages 5-7 years, accompanied by their favorite adult. WEE Can Help volunteers perform the important task of stocking our Market shelves after it closes on Wednesdays. It's a great opportunity to learn counting, reading labels, grouping, and a sense of helping others. WEE Can Help is also a great chance for parents to teach their children through their own volunteerism.

Shifts are limited to ensure the best experience for every volunteer. All accompanying adults are required to complete a volunteer application and attend a volunteer orientation prior to registering for WEE Can Help shifts. For more details, feel free to email Alice or call her at 978-388-1907 x15.

2017: 1 Million Meals, More than 3,400 Neighbors Served!
What a year! And it didn't just happen by chance. More than 600 volunteers dedicated more than 28,000 hours of service and thousands of you contributed more than $840,000 in funds and $558,000 in food and toiletries to ensure our doors opened every day and our neighbors were welcomed and served all year long.
Thank you to every single one of YOU! We have high hopes for the year ahead and the potential to serve even more neighbors in 2018. Watch for our official 2017 annual report that will publish in early March. In the meantime, stay involved, come visit us, and help us spread the word about food insecurity in our community.                                                                                                                                    Lyndsey Haight
                                                          Executive Director

How Can You Get Involved in 2018?
Every week, we register new neighbors and families who come to us for help. We expect to serve more than 3,500 people this year. But we can't do it without YOU.