We Are In It Together

June 2020 Newsletter

Be Safe!

The NK Food Pantry abides by all the RI Department of Health rules and guidelines. All clients need to schedule an appointment (401-885-3663) prior to coming to the Pantry. We will have pre-bagged all groceries and ask clients not to come into the Pantry. If a client has an allergy or something you do not eat, please tell us when you make your appointment, and we will try to accommodate you.

Our volunteers follow the RI Department of Health guidelines and wear gloves, masks, routinely wash their hands, have their temperature taken, and must answer a series of health questions prior to entering the Pantry. Health and Safety is our top concern. Thank you to the NK School District Nurses who are helping us maintain a safe environment for our volunteers and clients!

A Message From Our President:

We want to thank all the people who have been so generous to the Pantry over the last few months! We have been blessed with many donations from people. This enabled us to participate with the NK schools to provide meals for a family of four, that only needed to be reheated. Since April, the food services workers at the NK School Department cooked meals which were delivered to Davisville Middle School & Kingstown Crossing from 11 am to 2 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays. Families picked up the meals and they were merely needed to be reheated for dinner. This program continues until June 12th & is open to NK residents. We were able to pair with the school department because of the generous donations to the Pantry!

For the last two years the Pantry has discussed an expansion to our parking lot on the large grassy western side, next to West Bay Christian Academy. In February 2019, we applied and later received a grant from the Champlin Foundation to pay for half of the parking lot and second ramp on the western side. The Pantry saved to pay for the other half of the project funding from a capital account which we started over five years ago. This new parking lot will keep our clients off of busy School Street, and the additional ramp will give everyone another means to safely and quickly get in and out of the Pantry. We will continue to have a fenced in area of the Pantry. The new parking lot was approved by the Planning Department of North Kingstown, and on May 18th, the Town Council approved the changes. Watch as we start this project over the next few months. The Pantry Board wants to emphasize that we started planning and saving for this renovation two years ago, we are not using any recent donations that were meant for food, to fund this new ramp and parking lot.

Thank you for your continued support for the Pantry! We could not do this without the help and support of the people of North Kingstown!

Kim Page

Thanks for Keeping Us Safe

Thank you Cindy Marchesseault and Doreen Pelland for Making masks for our Pantry volunteers. All pantry workers are required to wear face masks.They are both NK residents

Nurse Donates $5000+

Phyllis Cayer, you are truly amazing! 5 G’s and counting to the North Kingstown Food Pantry. We need to get this lady a cape! You are our Hero around here! Let’s hear a big cheer from Briarbrook in the North End of town. See what TV10 has to say about this Hero.

Thanks Jake!

6th grade Wheeler School student Jake Charlton has learned from this pandemic that you are never too young to help those in need in the community. He has raised $500 for the North Kingstown Food Pantry with a combination of yard work for his grandparents, asking relatives for donations, and saved money he had collected from several birthdays. He hopes to inspire other kids his age to give back and get involved in local charities.

We Love Nurses!

We hope to be catching up and thanking some of those in our #NorthKingstown community who have been helping the pantry during this time of crisis. In the spirit of appreciation and in honor of Nurse Appreciation Week, we would like to thank Colleen and Liz (pictured) as well as Alice and Lisa, all NK school nurses, who have been volunteering their time at the pantry.

NK Liquor Mart

How crazy and wonderful is this continuing donation effort from Kingstown Liquor Mart? Patrons have been coming for curb-side pick-up and have been adding donations to their bills in support of our pantry. To-date, more than $5000 has been donated by the surrounding community. Thank you for supporting local businesses and thanks for supporting our local #NKFoodPantry!