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. 

Tonight, Santa will make his annual visit to the Our Neighbors' Table Wednesday meal. Each year, he comes to dinner to visit with our guests, young and old. Children get dressed in their frilly dresses and bows and sweaters and ties. And the excitement bursts from their faces the moment they see his jolly face.
This is a special time of year, when cheer and gratitude fill the air. I’d like to share a favorite story about a very special gift we received at a previous Santa visit. Some of you may have heard this story before, but it is worth retelling as it captures the true essence of the season of giving.
On this particular night, the crowd had gathered as usual to see Santa Claus - many familiar faces sprinkled with new families coming for the first time. As I was greeting and lining children up for their photos, a woman dressed festively in an elf hat and holiday sweater pulled me aside. "My son has something he wants to say to you," she said.
I knew this woman, we'll call her "Lynn", and her son "Steven". Lynn is a single mother with two young boys. She works as an assistant manager in a fast food restaurant. Her mother, who also struggles financially, provides help with the boys when she can. The family shops weekly at our market and is especially grateful for the extra food that comes with the Summer Lunch Program.
So back to the Christmas dinner. I bent over so I could hear Steven" as he stands closely to his mother, looking bashfully at the floor – his voice so soft and hard to hear in the crowd.
"Hi, Steven. Merry Christmas!" I say.
Steven slowly looks up at me with his big brown eyes and barely whispers "Merry Christmas" as he holds out his hand. As I look down, I see a crisp $10 bill folded neatly in his fingers. And he is handing that $10 to ME!
Surprised and a bit confused, I ask Steven “What’s this?”
"I had a birthday and I got this birthday money."
"And you're giving it to us?" I asked. "Why?"
Steven looked at me with a shy smile and replied, "So you can help families who come to Our Neighbors' Table."
My heart nearly burst! I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him and give him a big squeeze. Steven, his mother and grandmother continue to come to dinner at ONT and use the market when things get tight. Steven has grown since his birthday donation, his shoulders getting broader, his face taking on the strong jawlines of a young man. His voice is strong, no longer a whisper. He talks about football and his favorite cars.
This holiday season, if you were thinking of giving, but wondered what an impact your gift would have, think of Steven and his family. Every day they struggle. But for Steven, the meals he gets at Our Neighbors’ Table have already given him hope. Steven knows, even on his tough days, that he has the power to make life a little better for someone else. His is the kind of gift that keeps on giving.
Today, in our community, 1 out of 8 children lives in a food insecure household, uncertain if they will get their next meal. We have the power to fix that, and, with the community’s support, with YOUR help, Our Neighbors’ Table can ensure no child in our community has to go hungry. 
This year, ONT will put more than 1 million meals on the table for families like Lynn and Steven, that’s twice as many as we distributed last year. Every $1 you give equals 1 meal!  
Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of the families here at Our Neighbors' Table!

​Warm wishes,
Lyndsey Haight
Executive Director​

Steven's compassion is an example to us all. Will you join him in helping a family who needs help? Give the gift that keeps on giving.

The Market at Our Neighbors' Table will not be open the week of Thanksgiving (Nov. 20 - 25). The ONT office is open 9am - 4pm on Tuesday and 9am - 12pm on Wednesday. The office and the Market will both be closed for the holiday Nov. 23 - Nov. 26. 

There will be a Wednesday Meal at Main Street Congregation Church on Nov. 22. Chicken broccoli ziti will be served from 4pm - 6pm.

If you are seeking food this week, the following organizations are available at the following times.

• Amesbury Community Action: Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 9am - 3:30pm.
• Pettengill House (Salisbury): Tuesday, Nov. 21 from 9am - 2pm and 4pm - 6pm
• Salvation Army (Newburyport): Wednesday, Nov. 22 from 1pm - 4pm
• Newburyport Lions Club: Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 23 at 12pm at the Newburyport Senior Center (331  High Street, Newburyport).
• First Parish Church (Newbury): Food Pantry open Friday from 3pm - 5pm

​

​Our Neighbors’ Table is proud to once again provide holiday food to local families during the season of giving. Over 600 families are counting on ONT to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals with their loved ones.
​This week, more than 200 volunteers will lend a hand, make home deliveries, and welcome guests to the market to "shop" for their Thanksgiving turkeys and fixings. To help make their table extra special and personal, every guest will also receive a $10 gift card to a local grocery store.
Next month, Christmas cheer is abound! The market will be filled with holiday groceries and will be open for special holiday hours from December 12th - 16th. Santa comes to the Wednesday Meal for dinner, pictures and Christmas carols on December 13!

​For volunteer opportunities or to sign up for holiday groceries, please call our office, 978-388-1907. And just a reminder, ONT will be closed November 23-26 and December 24-January 1 to give our volunteers and staff a well-deserved rest!

​This year’s annual breakfast was a celebration of the incredible growth in service thanks to the support of our community. In 2016, Our Neighbors’ Table provided 550,000 meals to nearly 3,000 local residents. This year we will fill one million plates for our neighbors in need – already reaching our projections for 2020. Read more about the breakfast and 2017 impact.

Local police, schools, churches and neighborhoods are hosting various events to keep plates filled through the holidays. Check out the complete list of ONT-supporting events!

This year’s annual breakfast was a celebration of the incredible growth in service thanks to the support of our community. In 2016, Our Neighbors’ Table provided 550,000 meals to nearly 3,000 local residents. This year we will fill one million plates for our neighbors in need – already reaching our projections for 2020.

This time last year, approximately 800 shoppers came through our market each month. Today, that number tops 1400 in a 4 week period. Guests are responding more than ever to the new level of dignity, effectiveness and efficiency offered by the Jardis-Taylor Center. And we anticipate that response to only continue to grow in the coming year as we seek to expand our programs to alleviate hunger for more individuals. Thank you to all the community partners, volunteers and supporters who have shaped our mission over the last 25 years. You are what is going to make our work possible for as long as there are people in our community who are hungry. In this spirit, the breakfast honored the Institution for Savings and Jim & Pat Smith, longtime volunteers, for their incredible support and contributions to ONT as the 2017 Community Champions.

We were thrilled to have over 200 attendees join us for the annual breakfast. Special thanks to Dana Marshall of 92.5 the River for serving as event emcee. We were also honored to have Erin Lynch, Executive Director of the Franklin Food Pantry, join us to share her moving story of her family’s personal struggle with hunger. The event closed with exciting announcement of a $5,000 challenge match from an anonymous donor and our guests were more than up for the challenge! They responded with $11,000 in donations, bringing our total raised to over $27,000 and putting over 27,000 meals on the table!

Did you ever wonder how the Wednesday Meal is prepared? Well, it takes many volunteers and two days to prepare the delicious and nutritious meals for our Wednesday night guests. Dedicated volunteers on Tuesday and Wednesday prepare the meal, set up the dining room and prepare the to-go meals.

This Volunteer Spotlight features our Wednesday morning Prep Volunteers. Meet Tony, Stu, Patricia, Chuck, Suzanne "Suz", Clarissa, and Sue who work tirelessly under the direction of  Chef Jim Miller. There are many tasks in getting the dining room ready, such as washing the floors and setting up the tables and chairs. Our volunteers happily slice, dice, chop, scoop, bake, cook, and dance. Yes, dance! There are some Wednesday mornings you can find our faithful volunteers dancing to music while performing their respective tasks. The tables are beautifully adorned with floral arrangements created by our ingenious volunteer Ellie.
 
Wednesday Prep Volunteers have been volunteering at ONT for as little as 6 months and as long as 17 years. Some of the volunteers also volunteer at the Market doing various jobs there. Each volunteer came to ONT for different reasons: retirement, paying it forward, family tradition, in memory of a family member, wanting to do something for the community. But these volunteers come together for the same reasons, too. They all return to ONT for the friendships they make, commitment to help their community, and the happiness they feel preparing the meal for our guests. This joy keeps them coming back.