New Year's is always a good time for reflection. If you are like me it is a good time to review your life - both things that are going well and things that could use some improvement including those 10 pounds I am always trying to lose! Here at the pantry when we look back at 2012 we are grateful for the support of so many people who make it possible for us to fulfill our mission of providing food and clothing to those in need. First on the list are the 300 plus volunteers who are the heart of the pantry with their dedicated service.  Next are the 800+ donors who provide the financial support that makes everything possible.  So thank you one and all!   December Doings December is undoubtedly the busiest month in the pantry. We provided turkeys and bags with all the fixings to families of three or more and we also provided toys/gifts for children ages 14 and younger both on a sign up basis. So the pantry was a hot bed of activity getting ready for these two days as well as doing all our usual food and clothing distribution. Turkey day was a great success thanks to the efforts of the turkey crew including: the Harwich Peer Leadership Group, Elizabeth Duggan and the Dennis Yarmouth Student Council who helped fill the bags and the crew on turkey day which included Robin Burns, Joe Dumas, Brian & Leo Dunphy, Larry Hake, Dave Mahan, David McGlone, Ray Sacramone, Sam Simonis and Pete Watson on the turkey line and in the warehouse and Karen Campbell, Mary Kocot, Jeanette Lynch, Kay Sacramone & Joyce Simonis on the front desk.        Pantry Friends Representative Sarah Peake and Lynn Mogell hosted a wonderful holiday party at their home in Provincetown and encouraged guests to bring food for the pantry instead of hostess gifts. The following day Sarah & Lynn delivered a veritable SUV full of great food to keep our shelves stocked     Guild of Harwich Artists Rocks!   As part of the Harwich Port Christmas Stroll, our good friends at the Guild of Harwich Artists hosted a sale of hand-painted ornaments to benefit The Family Pantry of Cape Cod.   Artist members of the guild created one-of-a-kind, original art in oil and acrylic on tiny canvasses and in watercolor and pastel in tiny golden frames. Artists Larry Folding and Barbara Quinn Grasso presented the pantry with a check for $1,149!!!   Toyland Toy day was a major success as well. We provided toys/gifts to over 700 children ages 14 and younger. The biggest factor in our success is the hard work of Santa's chief elves Jeanette Lynch and Joyce Simonis who organize our toy program and lead the 100 volunteers involved in the process. The many tasks include: toy acquisition, sorting, packaging, client sign ups, toy day check in, working with clients on toy day, gift captains for each age group, gift card management, traffic control inside the building as well as traffic control and parking assistance in the lot.  Pantry volunteers know how to party! Sunday December 9th the pantry volunteers were honored for their service at a party held at Holy Trinity's summer Church thanks to the generous support of Father Healey. The party was well attended and everyone had a fabulous time. The party committee, chaired by Jeanette Lynch, included Betty Bogardus, John Devine, Janet Donahue, Joe Dumas, Don & Paulette Gutt, Bob Johnson, Mary Kocot, Priscilla Perkins and Joyce Simonis. The room was gorgeous, the food was delicious and a fine time was had by all. Several volunteers went home with door prizes which were donated or provided to us at cost from Fritz Glass, Harts Farm Nursery and AAA Southern New England.                Toys Toys and More Toys  Thank you to the Harwich Chamber of Commerce and the Christmas in Harwich Committee led by Mary Hall who helped with our program. The following businesses graciously collected toys for us from the commmunity and we really appreciate their help: Benson Young & Downes, Harwich Port Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Dennis, East Harwich & Harwich Port Commonwealth Associates, Harwich Port The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, East Harwich Second Glance Thrift Shop, Harwich Port  Valentines Gift Idea     The Family Pantry of Cape Cod introduces its own Pandora style bead. By adding your own chain, this sterling silver bead can be used alone as a bracelet or necklace, can be added to your  existing collection or is a way to start a new bead collection   The beads cost $20.00 and $10 of each sale goes directly to the Pantry.   The bead makes a great Valentines, Birthday, Anniversary or Just Because gift especially for a pantry or thrift shop volunteer.   The beads are on sale at our thrift shop, Second Glance, 563 Main Street in Harwich Port Tuesday - Saturday 10-4 or in the pantry office during our open hours, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday or by appointment Volunteers Needed  We always have volunteer openings at the Pantry and at Second Glance, our thrift store.  Please contact Patty Watson for more information at 508-432-6519, or pwatson@thefamilypantry.com Gift Certificate Program  The pantry has always worked hard to be as self sufficient as possible and one program that we have had for all 23 years of our history is the supermarket gift card program. The beauty of this program is that it only costs you a little bit of your time!    The way it works is we purchase the gift cards in bulk from Stop & Shop and Shaws/Star Market at a 5% discount. We then sell them to you at face value. So if you buy a $50 gift certificate you then use it to purchase $50 of groceries.  Because of our 5% discount we have only paid $47.50 for the card!     We are very fortunate to have many groups who sell the gift cards for our benefit including: Christ Church Episcopal, First Congregational Church, Holy Trinity Church, The Chatham Women's Club, The Dennis Democratic Committee, The Lower Cape Crush Softball Team, The Lower Cape Kiwanis Club, Second Glance on Wednesdays and Saturday afternoons and at the pantry during our open hours or by appointment. So please support them in supporting us.   We also have a great team who does an impeccable job ordering and accounting for the gift cards from these many sources. The team led by Jo Molnar includes Peg Donovan, Shirley Gomes and Herb King who meet regularly in an undisclosed location. Our Hours of Operation  Tuesday 10-3:30 Thursday 10-noon, 1:30-3:30 & 5-7PM Saturday 10-noon    Sincerely,   Mary Anderson Executive Director The Family Pantry of Cape Cod  133 Queen Anne Road Harwich, MA 02645 508-432-6519 manderson@thefamilypantry.com    

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