Weston Food Pantry now offering donation pickup service - The Weston Forum

Weston Food Pantry now offering donation pickup service - The Weston Forum

Abby and Owen Tanzer have organized a pickup service to take donations to the Weston Food Pantry.

The Weston Food Pantry will offer donation pickup service beginning Saturday, Oct. 22. The program, called Weston Food Pantry Pick Ups, is meant to support the Food Pantry’s effort to continuously stock its shelves by offering an easy and flexible option for Weston residents wishing to donate groceries to the pantry.  

Organized by Weston High School students Abby and Owen Tanzer, Weston Food Pantry Pick Ups will announce pickup days in advance throughout the year. Weston residents may send an email to [email protected] stating pickup address and specific location and leave donations out that day. Participating residents will receive a reminder email the day before, and do not have to be home on pickup day. Together with other student volunteers, the Tanzers will facilitate picking up the donations and deliver them to the pantry to help feed families in need.  

“The students recognized that many families interested in donating to support the food pantry simply have a tough time finding the time to physically deliver the groceries to the pantry,” said Weston Food Pantry’s president, Anne Bigin. “The idea is to make it so easy that more people will donate.”

“Our goal is to encourage many more families to begin regularly donating groceries to the Weston Food Pantry by making it easy and convenient to do so,” said Abby Tanzer.

“We were genuinely surprised to learn how many Weston households are supported by the food pantry and wanted to help, too,” said Owen Tanzer. “Even setting out a small bag with one or two or a few items makes a difference if we all work together.”

The Weston Food Pantry regularly requests the following items, but will receive all donations that are non-perishable and not expired: peanut butter, breakfast cereals, toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste), paper products (paper towels, toilet paper, napkins), juices/juice boxes, cooking oil, tunafish, cleaning supplies, dish detergent, school lunch/snack items (cookies, pretzels, granola bars, crackers, pudding), and pet foods.

The Weston Food Pantry has regular donation drop-off hours on Tuesday and Saturday mornings at the pantry, located across from the Norfield fire station. Donations may also be dropped off in a basket at Camelot Real Estate during business hours.

The Weston Food Pantry is also the recipient of many private and corporate donations, grants, food drives, and programs throughout the year, but the need to replenish the stocked items is continuous. Since January 2016, the pantry has been governed by its board of directors, Anne Bigin, Margaret Krauss, Ruby Hedge, Erica Scioscia, and Stacey Tucker, who meet regularly with Weston Social Services Director Charlene Chiang-Hillman to ensure that Weston residents in need are supported. The Weston Food Pantry is a non-profit venture and is not financially supported by the town of Weston.