Otis Food Pantry Update
By Terry Gould
December 2024
As I write this, we are enjoying the lovely late fall weather but hoping for some rain. We hope that by the time you read this, you are enjoying holiday nogs, family and friends, and that maybe, just maybe, there is a bit of snow on the ground.
The pantry has welcomed several new faces in the last few months. Non-perishable staples fly off the shelves each week, so if you are shopping, we hope you will pick up that extra jar of peanut butter or can of soup to drop off in our safe box. Our Facebook page will be updated with a needs list as often as we can, and we thank you for sharing our lists.
This will be the last post of 2024.
The Otis Food Pantry began distributing food in late August of 2020. Since then, we have been open every week. For the first time, we will be closed for one week, as pantry day falls on Christmas Day. We have planned for extra produce and a second meat meal to be available the week before. We will be open for regular hours on January 1, 2025.
Holiday requests for our shelves include:
• Pancake mixes and syrup
• Baking mixes and supplies
• Regular requests for soup, vegetables, tuna, chicken, condiments, pasta, and sauces
• Easy-to-prepare items like canned ravioli, hash, chili, baked beans
• Macaroni and cheese and rice pilaf, which are also quick to prepare
Thank you to everyone who never forgets their neighbors here:
• Berkshire Bounty
• Berkshire Grown for fresh fruit and vegetables
• Berkshire House of Correction for wonderful aquaponic lettuce
• High Lawn Farm for providing milk every week
• Big Y in Lee for making baked goods available (the lovely loaf of bread or sweet is a highlight for everyone who comes to our pantry)
Our volunteers continue to show up, stock up, shop, and clean the surfaces. Thank you to Jane, Mary Kay, Sarah, Kimberly, Terry, Larry, Karen, and Kendra. We like to think we are a well-oiled machine, so humor us if you please.
We are so grateful to the Town of Otis and the Town Hall staff who provide us with a space and never complain if we make too much noise or track up the floors. We could not exist at all without the support of our wonderful town.
Thank you to the people who remember us week after week: Arlene, Frank and all of your elves, Smile Like Jack, Bob and Diane and all of the Owls, the Otis Observer, Deb and Bernie, Sue and Jim, Carol and the Catholic Church, the Otis Community Garden.
Thank you also to the Knox Trail Inn for stepping up to provide holiday meals, the Otis Ridge Ski Area for remembering us every year, as well as the Berkshire Soccer Academy who provided wonderful extras at the close of the camp season.
We receive monetary donations that continue to keep us going, and the names are many. Thank you for your generosity. Forgive me if I have missed anyone. We are so very grateful.
May 2025 keep us safe and healthy.
Peace.
