East Bay Food Pantry

Our 3rd Annual Rock the CAN! was our most successful yet, with over 200 guests enjoying the music of four terrific, local acts:  Rendition, Trinity, The Repercussions, and Band of Brothers!  We are so grateful that these fine musicians are willing to share their talent for such a good cause.

Jacky’s Galaxie hosted the event for the third year in a row, providing the venue and buffet free of charge.  Many thanks to Jacky, Val and their fine staff for treating everyone to such a fine evening!

The ever popular raffle featured donations from the following fabulous businesses:

Kate and Co, Green River Silver, Bayside Resort in Yarmouth MA, Newport Mansions, Nick’s Fish, Bead House, Coggeshall Jewelers, Roberto’s, It’s All Hair, Knotty Dog, Heart and Soul, Greenvale Vineyards, Sakonnet Vineyards, Trinity Rep, i Boutique, 1776 Liquors, Bristol Yoga Studio, and Silpada (Sheila Morris-Sardinha).

Thank you to everyone who made Rock the CAN! 2012 such a great event!

The East Bay Food Pantry is pleased to announce the first in a series of Healthy Cooking Classes to be held on Friday, February 10^th at 11:00 am in the Franklin Court Community Room on Wood Street in Bristol.  The classes will be taught by Heidi Hetzler, MS, RD, LDN who is the Program Coordinator with the USDA SNAP-Education Department and are open to EBFP clients.

The classes are designed to show how easy it is to prepare a delicious and nutritious meal with ingredients available on food pantry shelves.  The class on February 10^th will feature the recipe “Pasta with Greens and Beans”, which will be prepared on site and then sampled by participants.  As an added bonus, each client participant will receive a bag containing all the ingredients to make the featured recipe at home.  These grocery bags are graciously provided by the East Bay Cares program of the Bristol County Elks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Holidays from the East Bay Food Pantry!

Thank you for all you do to share hope and healthy food with those in need in the East Bay.

We appreciate your dedication and support – and wish you health and happiness in 2012!

With Peace and Joy,

The EBFP Staff and Volunteers are shopping, organizing, and preparing to give out 300 Christmas Meal baskets to clients on Monday, December 19th between 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. The baskets will contain all the fixings for a nice holiday meal, as well as a gift card that can be used to purchase a turkey, ham, roast, etc. The First Congregational Church in Bristol is graciously donating approximately 100 baskets and the remaining 200 needed will be assembled at the pantry on Sunday, December 18th at 11:00am.

We will also be distributing gifts for 260 children who are members of our client families. This will be happen in the Franklin Court Community Room at the same time at the meal basket distribution. Gift collection is being organized by Dyan Vaughn and her daughter Cara Beller, who are busily collecting gift donations from many businesses and organizations such as the Bristol Post Office, The Toy Shop, Blithewold, Barrington Books, Trane, Tri-Mack Plastics, Ladies Fire Auxiliary, and many others along with numerous individuals. Thank you to everyone who is participating in these efforts!


Shop in Warren this Friday, December 9th until 8:00pm and a portion of your purchases will be donated to the East Bay Food Pantry!  This is a great opportunity to complete some of your holiday shopping, support our local merchants, AND support your FAVORITE local charity!

Visit Discover Warren to learn more!

Thank you for helping us welcome our clients every week to a fully stocked pantry!  Because of your generosity, we are able to provide food for over 3,500 East Bay residents.  Amanda is one of our new clients and she shared her poignant and compelling story with me via email a few weeks ago…

“I wanted to thank you for what you are doing for our community. I was a single mom for a long time and remember
having to choose between milk for my newborn or gas to take me to work. I also remember having dreams about asking restaurants to please give me and my daughter the scraps after people ate. It was horrible. I never asked for help
or went to the pantry.

My daughter is now older and I am married so many things have gotten better, however we still need assistance and
this time I am going to come in and get it. I realize that pride isn’t what is important here. My family is. I admit that I am afraid to come in. I don’t know why. I feel like it’s admitting failure I guess. But I plan to come in and start shopping once a month.  It is a terrible feeling to not be able to buy my daughter food but it is a relief that you are here to help.

Thank you. One million times, thank you.” Amanda - new East Bay Food Pantry client
Please take a moment to make your tax deductible donation securely online today!

Unfortunately, Amanda is not alone in her struggle to feed her family.  EBFP registers an average of 48 new client families every month, totaling nearly 600 NEW client families every year.  This is a huge responsibility and one that we could not take on without your help and the support of our community.  Please make a commitment to support our Annual Appeal. With your sustaining generosity, we can provide assistance to the ever increasing population affected by financial hardship. Your gift will empower the East Bay Food Pantry to care for our most vulnerable neighbors.

$10 = 100 pounds of food! EBFP distributes over 13,000 pounds of food every month.

$100 = 2 Holiday Meal baskets!  EBFP is preparing to give out 1,000 holiday meal baskets in November and December.  We need YOUR help!

Please take a moment to make your tax deductible donation securely online today.  Or, send your check to East Bay Food Pantry, 150 Franklin Street, Bristol, RI  02809.

And to echo Amanda’s heart-felt words of appreciation – “Thank you. One million times, thank you”!

Sincerely,

Anita K. Randall, Executive Director