Otis Food Pantry Update
By Terry Gould
June 2025
We hope that by the time you are reading this, your gardens are growing, the black flies have departed, and the first holiday weekend of the summer was peaceful.
Easter dinners were prepared by the Knox Trail Inn and volunteers delivered 35 meals to our neighbors in Otis. Feedback was that they were delicious! Thank you to everyone at the Knox for your hard work and wonderful food. Thank you, Sue, Jane and Terry, for delivering.
Thank you to the Russell family for sharing Easter recipe bags from the parishioners of St. Mary's of Simsbury, Connecticut. Neighbors don't always need to be right next door.
The Otis Food Pantry had several responses to our request to add a plant or two or an extra row to existing vegetable gardens in town. We hope that harvest will be plentiful enough to share some of the extra with the pantry. Tomato seeds were planted, and seedlings were fostered and then distributed to local gardeners. A true community team effort. Thank you, Amy, for planting; thank you Gordon for fostering, and thank you to the local gardeners who will be making space for these plants.
Earlier in the spring everyone stepped up to share empty egg cartons when Berkshire Bounty could only access eggs in flats. We have since been able to receive eggs in cartons and thank everyone for sharing. We have plenty now. Otis is a community that truly looks out for each other and steps up every time.
Moving the pantry out into the sunshine seems to make everyone smile. It becomes easier to chat with one another and share all the fresh produce in the fresh air.
Our patrons were very patient with us for the weeks that the refrigerator was broken. We hope that by the time this article is published the refrigerator will have been repaired. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who made space in their refrigerators for our perishable items.
At the same time an extra shout out once again to Andy and the Otis Poultry Farm for sharing the last of your food stock with the pantry. From pickled eggs and pies, to spices, cheese and eggs, we are so grateful for your thoughtfulness. The town will miss you and we hope that you enjoy every moment of your new adventure.
Favorite items at the pantry are the baked goods that are picked up by Jane and Mel from Big Y every Wednesday morning. A loaf of bakery bread and a pie or perhaps cookies are truly the most popular Wednesday morning treat. We would like to send a huge thank you to Big Y World Class Markets for this amazing weekly donation. High Lawn Farms continues to provide local milk for our pantry as well. Thank you for continuing to be part of the team that keeps our food pantries running. Berkshire Bounty and Berkshire Grown fill the table with fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs and butter. As prices continue to rise, we are so very grateful for this service. If anyone wonders about being asked to "round up" at Guidos for Berkshire Bounty, please know that all the food pantries benefit from your donation.
Every week Jane and Ralph travel to Pittsfield and pick up frozen meat and sliced cheese for the pantry. The monetary donations made by all of you allow us to purchase the meat and cheese. Monetary donations also help us to keep the non-perishable shelves stocked when we need to supplement the regular food drop offs.
Larry picks up the vegetables, fruit and dairy products every week and we are grateful for his continued dedication to the pantry. Thank you, Jane and Mary Kay, for keeping track of all things financial. And thank you to Mary Kay for making sure shelves are neat and organized and for shopping for non-perishables when the shelves are bare. Also, a shout out to Otis Ridge for sharing refrigerator and freezer space while our refrigerator was down and out. Oh, and for sharing the extra canteen treats when the season ended. A very popular week at the pantry for sure.
Eric, Matt and Mike make sure we have tables and space with a smile without fail. The Food Pantry is so grateful to be the guest of Otis Town Hall. Thank you for making us part of the family. Thank you Jane, Jane, Sarah, Kimberly and Terry for being the Wednesday morning team.
Welcome to summer! Non-perishable donations may be placed in the blue safe box at the back door of Otis Town Hall. Monetary donations may be sent to: Otis Food Pantry, c/o MK Pinkham, PO Box 271, Otis, MA 01253. OO
The Otis Food Pantry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Look for us on Facebook at Otis Food Pantry.
