The Giving Season
Did you notice the jingling of bells coming from downtown this holiday season? No it wasn’t Santa’s little helpers or his reindeer. It was members of the Holliston Democratic Committee. Braving snow, rain, and some brisk temperatures, DTC members stood outside Superette Supermarket every Saturday and Sunday morning between Thanksgiving and Christmas ringing bells to solicit donations for the town’s food pantry.
(Pantry Shelf treasurer David O'Neil accepts the HDC donation form Bill Dooling)
Created by committee member Bill Dooling, this is the sixth year the fundraiser has been in place. In those few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the group raised close to $2000 for the pantry, with nearly half of that coming from donations made during the town’s yearly Holiday Stroll.
The volunteer-driven Holliston Pantry Shelf provides food and toiletries to locals in need. According to the organization’s treasurer David O’Neil, the pantry serves 180 Holliston families, or approximately 450 individuals, averaging about 110 families visiting each week.
Recently the pantry collaborated with the Greater Boston Food Bank, which provides them with 2,000-4,000 pounds of reduced-cost or free food twice a month. Despite this new partnership and the generosity of food donations by the Holliston community, the average weekly cost for groceries is running about $2,800, down from 2015 average of $3,800. O’Neil says that monetary donations are down by almost 16 percent from their 3-year average, while the number of families in need continues to increase. He projects that for 2016 the pantry will generate a slight deficit, forcing them to dip into reserves to fund the deficit.
Donors should know that their financial donations are not squandered: this year, 88 cents of every dollar donated was spent on groceries, with the balance spent on rent, insurance and operating supplies. Holliston Pantry Shelf welcomes assistance from the community in many forms: food donations, financial contributions, and volunteer hours. “We continue to be so grateful to the people, organizations, and businesses in Holliston for their generous support,” says O’Neil.
Anyone interested in volunteering or donating should visit the pantry’s website for more information: www.hollistonpantryshelf.org.
For more information about the Holliston Democratic Town Committee visit and “like” Holliston Dems on Facebook or contact chairperson Megan O’Brien at obrienmegn@aol.com.