If you are so inclined, Farmer Dave’s in Dracut is taking donations to help fund Neighbor Boxes that will be given free to folks who need food at this time. Distribution is Friday Nov. 7. A donation of $20 funds a box of fresh produce for a household that needs it (estimated value of $70, more than tripling your contribution). Here is a link to Farmer Dave’s (Square site) for anyone who might be interested in contributing.
@fooddabbler thank you for mentioning. I just went through the pay flow at the site and found out that I couldn’t order/donate until I selected the pickup location as Dracut. (It also told me my “order” would be ready Tuesday. Ignore that.)
If it’s still not working, feel free to DM me and I will mention the issue to the Farmer Dave’s people tomorrow. I’m sure they would want to know about a glitch that’s getting in the way.
I believe their FB page noted to use Dracut as the pickup location as well. And a post on their FB page from yesterday - LOOK at what people have done for their neighbors! (ETA didn’t realize this snip was from @tomatotomato 's original post - but still bears repeating and showing!)
Thank you, @fooddabbler , @digga , @GretchenS , and @LindaWhit—and anyone else I may have missed—for your kind contributions. The Neighbor Boxes were like large CSA boxes. Heavy with fresh produce. Importantly, this got food on people’s tables now. Thanks to FD’s resourcefulness and planning no guest was turned away yesterday whether or not they had not signed up in advance. Photo of sample box below also courtesy of Farmer Dave’s (my photo wasn’t as good).
Plus there were extras available like sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and various produce from the packing room that was restocked from time to time.
I can’t say enough good things about Farmers Dave and Jane, and the awesome staff and fellow volunteers. And the guests who showed up were so wonderful. I also learned a couple useful things that I’ll share later, on another thread.
All in all: thanks to the amazing resourcefulness of Farmers Dave and Jane, and a community motivated to make a difference happen, neighbors were helped. The idea was sparked by CSA members who wanted to do something, and that’s ultimately going to get some 30,000 pounds of produce to people.
If there’s more of this to come, count me in. As you all know I’m a tough, abrasive cookie, hardly a softie. But this situation we’re in makes me weep. We’re measurably the richest large country in the history of the world – yet we have people who cannot get enough food. It’s a stain on our national conscience,.
Well, it turned out that I found myself mostly positioned for matching guests with carts/boxes after they checked in, and distributing kale and collards to those who would use them. Somehow, it became apparent that I was in my element welcoming people and talking about greens.
My husband was enlisted as one of those loading boxes into carts. He did great! Each packed box weighed about 30 pounds in our estimation.
I was impressed that the crew was self-organizing, after FD’s staff directed us to what needed doing.
(ETA didn’t realize this snip was from 
