Mission:
To provide nonperishable food items, paper products, toiletries, and money to A Place to Turn, an emergency food pantry located in Natick, MA, serving the Metrowest area.
How It Works:
Church members are encouraged to donate at least 1500 items to A Place to Turn each calendar year. The Social Action Committee matches one dollar for each item donated up to $1500 per calendar year. A Place to Turn uses this money to purchase needed items including perishables.
UU Principles:
Speak out for Children _ 1996 General Resolution . . . . THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Unitarian Universalist Association shall act and urge its affiliates, member societies, and individual Unitarian Universalists to: support children in their rights to adequate food, . . .
Ending Hunger _ 1987 General Resolution . . . BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That Unitarian Universalists work with organizations on local, state, provincial, national, and international levels toward the establishment of programs that hasten the elimination of hunger in both the short and long term . . .
Participation and Schedule:
Items may be dropped off any time during church hours; all church members and friends are encouraged to donate regularly. Two convenient collection baskets are located in the back of the sanctuary and another one is located inside the south entrance near the church office, a final basket is located inside the north entrance in the hallway.
Just an item or two each week makes a big difference. Donations are brought to A Place to Turn every couple of weeks; checks are sent monthly.
Donations and Guidelines:
The following items are welcomed at A Place to Turn:
- Rice, Beans, Pasta of all kinds, side dishes such as Rice-a-Roni, Rice Pilaf
- Spaghetti Sauce and other Tomato products
- Canned Vegetables, Canned Fruit
- Stews, Meat, Tuna, Canned Chicken
- Soups, Mac and Cheese, Juices, Jell-O, Pudding
- Wafers and Goldfish
- Peanut Butter, Grape Jelly
- Hot and Cold Cereal
- Paper Towels, Facial Tissue, Toilet Paper, Disposable Diapers, Baby Wipes
- Toothpaste, Toothbrushes, Shampoo, Deodorant, Soap
- Feminine Hygiene Products, Shaving Products
- Laundry Detergent, Cleaning Supplies
- Clothing, Sheets, Blankets, and Towels are also accepted.
Please Note: All items are to be in good condition. No food items are to be opened, perishable, or beyond their expiration date. Please avoid glass containers.
Benefits:
A Place to Turn has found the need for food to be increasing each year and greatly appreciates our church’s contributions. More than 12,000 people a year (350 families per month) seeking food assistance come through the doors of A Place to Turn. Most of the people who come are working and making money, but often it is minimum wage, and compared with the high cost of living in the Metrowest area, they have trouble making ends meet. Unfortunately, the root causes of hunger in our affluent society are not being addressed vigorously enough, which is troubling.
In the meantime, we can help, not by “ending” hunger, but by helping to alleviate it one item at a time. Until all people in our prosperous country have enough to eat all of the time, efforts such as ours at A Place to Turn are needed and appreciated.
UUAC Honored by A Place to Turn
A Certificate of Appreciation was awarded to UUAC at a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner given by A Place to Turn on May 6, 2010. The framed Certificate reads:
“A Place to Turn wishes to recognize and thank The Unitarian Universalist Area Church at First Parish in Sherborn for outstanding volunteerism on behalf of A Place to Turn.”
Barbie and Bill Breer were honored to accept this award for UUAC and for all the many members of our congregation who have donated needed items and money over the years to A Place to Turn.
