Some Thursdays Peg Carbone can fill the trunk of her SUV with donations for the food pantries in town; other weeks, there are a smaller number of items collected.
But, since the Stoughton resident proclaimed Thursdays as “Food Pantry Day” and started picking up donations from residents and businesses around town, she said she never comes to the St. Anthony’s Free Market food pantry without a donation.
“I never come here empty,” Carbone said.
Carbone said she has picked up some regular and semi-regular donors. She goes by her motto, “one can, one bag, or several” – every bit helps.
“It’s been wonderful,” she said of the town’s response to her efforts.
“[Carbone has] been a lifesaver,” said Christine Gallagher, manager of the St. Anthony’s Free Market.
In fact, Gallagher is impressed with the generosity from the whole community.
“There’s a lot of good people in Stoughton,” she said.
But even with Carbone’s help and donations from other organizations, businesses and individuals and fundraisers like the annual Doin’ It For Diane event, the St. Anthony’s Free Market is still low on inventory.
Part of this reason is the food supply from the Greater Boston Food Bank is down as of late. Gallagher said 85 percent of the food pantry’s supply came from the food bank, but that percentage has fallen to 75.
Of particular need is peanut butter. St. Anthony’s has not recently received any from the food bank.
With Thanksgiving coming up, the demand for items like cranberry sauce, stuffing and canned gravy increase, Gallagher said. St. Anthony’s already gave turkeys out last Friday for the holiday.
There is also a need for pasta, rice, jelly and juices—really anything (non-perishable) Gallagher said.
Carbone said a good rule of thumb to go by is “if you use it in your home, chances are they’ll need it too.” That includes toiletries and toilet paper.
Anne Havlin is the director of St. Anthony’s, which is affiliated with Immaculate Conception Church (the food pantry is located on 2 Park Ave., not at the church on Canton St.).
The pantry is open for Stoughton residents Fridays from 10 a.m. until noon and the second Thursday of each month from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m.
* Call Carbone at 508-889-1385 or send an email to peg.carbone@comcast.net to arrange a pickup.
* The Fred Nadine Real Estate Team is also collecting food on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon. They will pick it up from you, at your convenience. Call 781-341-8330 or email sold@fredandnadine.com.
* And, Whole Person Health at 294 Pleasant Street, Suite 201, is collecting food for the pantry from November 2011 to April 2012. They have a donation basket in their lobby.