The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

charity/volunteer

My Turn: Food pantry needs help with non-food items

By Karen Boyce

Summer is here and our donations, both monetary and grocery, are down. We have had to take a hard look at what we offer our clients and cut back on some areas. We are limiting dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper and laundry detergent and are focusing solely on providing protein foods, dairy, and fresh vegetables to our many clients. Local farmers are donating produce and eggs to us through the Lincoln Agriculture Commission. We are so thankful!

Please, at this very tentative time of year, consider making a donation to us. You can send a check to us at St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lincoln and Weston, PO Box 324, Lincoln, MA. You might add on the check that it is for the food pantry.

Would you rather donate a product? Costco is having a sale on paper towels! We also need small laundry detergent and small bottles of dish soap — toilet paper, too. You can leave the donations on the porch of the St. Joseph house, right beside the food pantry at 142 Lincoln Road (rear) in the blue bins. Even one bottle of dish soap helps us out. And as always, salad dressings, mayonnaise, and cereals are things we just cannot keep on the shelves. They are on sale everywhere. Thank you for your generosity. Happy Fourth of July!

Karen Boyce is chair of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lincoln and Weston food pantry.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Food for the soul (Lincoln through the Lens)

After its biennial plant sale, the Lincoln Garden Club had plants left over, so they donated them to the SVdP food pantry for clients to take home. Belinda Goodrich and other club members put together about 20 planters with succulents and mini-hostas, and SVdP’s Ursula Nowak chipped in with some large colorful plants from her house.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

My Turn: SVdP gives thanks, but more donations are always needed

Dear Lincoln community,

The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lincoln and Weston just enjoyed our beautiful spring fundraiser concert (more on that below), but there’s no time to rest, as the need in our community is ongoing. The food pantry will be open next Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 and 8, and we need your help to restock our shelves! Now at the beginning of the summer, the most needed items are ketchup, olive oil, salad dressings, mayonnaise, relish, cereal, pasta sauce and crackers.

Small and regular sizes are best so that some people do not get the giant ones and others get the tiny ones. We have limited space and want to be able to give the items to as many people as possible. No need to sign up, but we have put together a SignUp Genius page so we can make sure we get a good number of each of the items needed. 

Food donations can be dropped off at any time on the back porch of the white house behind St. Joseph Church at 142 Lincoln Rd. Enter the driveway to the left of the church, drive past the white house behind the church, and leave your donations on the back porch. If you buy food at Donelan’s, you can drop it off in the collection barrel behind the registers. No perishable or expired food please. 

SVdP’s “Grazing in the Grass” concert was a successful and enjoyable event where many people came together to enjoy the beautiful music with each other. With gratitude, SVdP acknowledges the local businesses of Lincoln and Weston for their sponsorship: Donelan’s, Twisted Tree, Something Special, Tack Room, Gretchen Covino’s Pilates, Lana’s Fitness, Weston Provisions, Roche Brothers, and Florentine Framers.

To all the SVdP volunteers: thank you for your selfless time and dedication! And to our supporters: SVdP could not continue our service without you!

Karen Salvucci, SVdP of Lincoln and Weston President
Chris Stirling, Vice President — and SVdP Board of Directors

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Come to an outdoor concert to benefit food pantry

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln & Weston (SVdP) is hosting its second annual outdoor concert “Grazing in the Grass” on Tuesday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Pierce Park. Performers will be Brian Moll, Mara Bonde & Sandra Piques Eddy, Christian Rougeaux, and the Kemp Harris Band. Bring your own chair, beverages, and a picnic, renew old friendships, take a chance on great gift baskets from local businesses, and enjoy a fun evening.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul operates the food pantry in town, gives financial emergency assistance, and offers scholarships to adults seeking to improve their earning capability. Nearly 150 households (350 people) rely on the food pantry. The need has increased tremendously in the last couple of years, and our expenses are still rising. In the last five months we have spent on average $8,000 for the food pantry (up from an average of $6,000 in our last fiscal year) and an average of $12,500 on financial emergency assistance (up from $5,000 in the previous fiscal year!). In addition, grant applications have become far more competitive as more organizations try to raise more money for their outreach work. We need your help so we can continue to support our neighbors in need.

This is our biggest fundraiser of the year. We hope you can come to our concert, but if you can’t, we hope you will still support us. The suggested donation is $25 per person (or more!). You can sign up by donating here (put “spring concert” in the notes) or mail a check payable to “St. Vincent de Paul” to SVdP, PO Box 324, Lincoln, MA 01773. We hope to raise $25,000. Please help us reach this goal.

See you on the 30th!

Ursula Nowak, Karen Salvucci (president), and Chris Stirling (vice president)
Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston

Brian Moll, Mara Bonde & Sandra Piques Eddy, Christian Rougeaux, and the Kemp Harris Band on Tuesday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m. in Pierce Park. Bring your own chair, drinks, and picnic. Suggested donation: $25 (or more).

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Downsize for Diversity evolves to raise funds for Boston initiative

The Lincoln MCC’s Joanna Schmergel interviewed for a piece on WBZ-TV that was broadcast on April 10.

After pulling in $170,000 in its earlier incarnation, Downsize for Diversity ART (Anti-Racists Together) is continuing to raise money for METCO in Lincoln in partnership with Boston Bridges Initiative — and the effort made the evening news recently.

From 2017-2022, Downsize for Diversity collected donated items including paintings, furniture, carpets, fine china, linens, dolls, estate jewelry, antiques, and other curiosities and sold them, with the proceeds going to Lincoln’s METCO Coordinating Committee. “I thought it was time to take Downsize for Diversity to another platform to see if it can spread and pollinate in other towns,” said METCO Coordinating Committee (MCC) fundraising chair Joanna Schmergel, who spearheaded DforD. Schmergel now heads up DforD ART, which is a scaled-down version of  DforD that accepts and sells only donated artwork and sculpture. She welcomes anyone who would like to help with or take over that effort, or who’d like help establish a similar fundraising effort in another town.

The Boston Bridges Initiative is a nonprofit that offers grants to programs that foster cross-racial social interaction and understanding between urban and suburban students. Its reach extends beyond the 29 towns that currently participate in METCO. DforD ART has raised $17,000 for the initiative thus far.

Interest from the fund established by the DforD sales covers about 30% of the annual need for financial aid to help METCO-enrolled students attend Lincoln Summer Day Camp, supplemented by other monetary donations. “Last year, applications [for financial aid] were so high that even though we were able to increase our giving amount, we still didn’t fully fund applications for financial aid from METCO-enrolled students,” said MCC President Kristen Ferris.

Local hospice organization gets grant, seeks volunteers

Care Dimensions, the nonprofit organization that operates the hospice house in Lincoln, will hold online training classes for those interested in becoming. You can make a difference in a patient’s life by:

  • Engaging in a shared interest or hobby
  • Helping with letter-writing or life review
  • Visiting with your approved dog
  • Reading to the patient
  • Listening and by providing a supportive, comforting presence

Volunteers are resuming in-person visits with patients in their homes, in facilities, and at the hospice houses. Volunteers are provided all necessary personal protective equipment. If patient visits are not the right fit, you can volunteer in other ways, such as providing administrative office support or making check-in phone calls to current patients or bereaved family members.

The 16-hour training will be held via Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9–11 a.m. from March 13 through April 5 (register by March 3). For more information or to register, go to www.CareDimensions.org/volunteers or email volunteerinfo@CareDimensions.org.

Care Dimensions recently received a $25,800 grant from the Parmenter Foundation to fund several programs that help elevate social engagement, care, and support for hospice patients and their loved ones, including:

  • Uber Health Rides — Provides free, reliable transportation for residents of MetroWest whose loved ones are on Care Dimensions hospice service either at home or at the hospice house in Lincoln. This service ensures family caregivers, who do not drive or cannot afford a means of transportation, can visit their loved one who is on their end-of-life journey.
  • Mobile Integrated Health Program — For hospice patients experiencing urgent pain and symptom escalations during nights and weekends. This service allows for a quicker response time and management of symptoms therefore helping to reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
  • Virtual Reality — Allows hospice patients to take virtual tours to places that are special to them or places they’ve wanted to visit but are no longer able to do so. These experiences help revive joyful memories, encourage life review, and create (or recreate) an experience a patient can share with loved ones. 
  • Pocketalkers — These hearing amplification devices help hearing-impaired hospice patients remain engaged with loved ones, personal interests, and their hospice team.

News acorns

Old Town Hall Exchange open this week

Need extra china place settings or glassware for your holiday meals, or some last-minute gift ideas? Check out the Old Town Hall Exchange, which has an array of gifts as well as affordable antiques. It will be open this week on the following schedule:

  • Tuesday, Dec. 20 — 10.a.m to 4 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Dec. 21 — 10.a.m to 2 p.m.
  • Thursday, Dec. 22 — 10.a.m to 3 p.m.
  • Friday, Dec. 23 — 10.a.m to 2 p.m.

Tucker Smith recognized for 25 years of helping families

Tucker Smith of Lincoln was profiled by Bay Cove Human Services for her 25 years of work to send holiday presents, grocery gift cards and other items needed to make the holidays bright for early-intervention (EI) families. The effort began in 1998 when Smith and her husband learned that there were unanswered letters to Santa at the postal annex, “so we decided to go get a couple of them and fulfill the requests,” she says in the Bay Cove blog post. “Not long after that, we were attending church at First Parish, and [fellow parishioner] Dan Boynton got up and began speaking about the agency he had founded—Bay Cove Human Services—and its EI program. I couldn’t wait for him to finish, so that I could run up to him and ask him whether we could supply Christmas for the people in the program!”

Bay Cove Human Services is a Boston-based nonprofit that provides services for individuals dealing with the challenges of mental illness, intellectual disabilities, substance use disorder, and/or homelessness in greater Boston and southeastern Massachusetts.

Shortsleeve named to Mt. Auburn board

Michael Shortsleeve

Lincoln resident Michael Shortsleeve, M.D., is one of four new board members and board chair announced by the Mount Auburn Hospital Board of Trustees. Shortsleeve served as chair of the Department of Radiology for 21 years and program director for the Radiology Residency Program for 18 years. He has served as an officer on the Board of Trustees and chair of the Trustee Philanthropy Committee, and he founded the Physician’s Leadership Circle.

News acorns

Old Town Hall Exchange opens for a day

On Saturday, Dec. 3 from 11 a.m.–2 p.m., the Old Town Hall Exchange will open temporarily as a holiday pop-up with inventory that was in place when the shop closed at the start of the pandemic. Everything but candy and consigned items will be 20% off. Swing by before or after the Touch of Christmas fair. The shop is stocked with lots of Christmas ornaments, stocking stuffers, cards, decorations, and more.

Holiday gift basket drive

During the holidays, the Lincoln Council on Aging & Human Services staff visits homebound needy seniors to deliver baskets full of basic necessities. The Lincoln Girl Scouts have teamed up with them to help collect new, unopened, unscented (if possible), full­-sized items to fill the baskets. Items needed include pharmacy/grocery gift cards, postage stamps, deodorant, dish soap, kitchen sponges, hand soap, body wash. shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste,  toothbrushes, lotion, paper towels, disposable razors, shaving cream, tissues, toilet paper, laundry soap, trash bags, socks, coffee, and tea. There will be collection bins in the Lincoln School office and at Bemis Hall through December 7. Along with the baskets, the Girl Scouts create holiday crafts to help spread some cheer.

LincFam winter caroling and food drive

Join Lincoln’s Kat Chapman for winter caroling on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. at the Twisted Tree. Before starting our caroling loop through Lincoln Woods, LincFam  will collect shelf-stable items (pasta, canned soups, packaged snacks) for the SVdP Food Pantry. If you would like donate money to their financial emergency services, please make checks payable to St. Vincent de Paul. All are welcome.

News acorns

FELS Thanksgiving pies on offer

FELS, the Foundation for Educators at Lincoln-Sudbury, www.FELSGrant.org, is offering its Thanksgiving pie sale again this year after a four-year hiatus. Pies baked by The Hyve will be sold through Friday, Nov. 11. Pickup will be available at the high school and the Lincoln Council on Aging on Tuesday, Nov. 22 from 3–6 p.m. Pies can also be gifted to staff and faculty at L-S and will be delivered by FELS Board members. For more details, go to www.FELSGrant.org. Pies can also be purchased for donation to the food pantries in Lincoln and Sudbury and the fire and police departments in both towns. Those who are traveling and can’t buy a pie may donate to FELS, a non-profit organization that awards enrichment grants to L-S faculty and staff to pursue their professional and personal interests and passions.

Family portrait fundraiser for food pantry

On Saturday, Nov. 12, Lincoln photographer Corey Nimmer will host a family portrait fundraiser at Flint Farm, where 100% of proceeds will be go directly to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lincoln and Weston, which operates the local food pantry and provides financial support to families in need. Sessions will be about 5 minutes each. To participate, click here to book a time slot; when it’s time to pay, just select “Cheque” as your payment method. The suggested donation is $75, but any amount goes a long way toward helping your neighbors this holiday season, and you can either bring a check made out to the St. Vincent de Paul Society or click here to make an online donation.

See “Seussical” at L-S

Tickets are now on sale for the LSB Players’ production of “Seussical,” with shows on Thursday to Saturday, Nov. 17–19 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.  This bright and energetic musical combines several well-known Dr. Seuss characters to tell the story of Horton the Elephant and his fierce determination to protect the land of the Whos, despite the scorn and disbelief of his fellow jungle folk. This show explores hope, identity, inclusivity, and the importance of having that “one true friend in the universe who believes in you.” Directed and choreographed by Carly Evans, music directed by Michael Bunting, and conducted by Tom Grandprey, and performed in the Kirshner Auditorium at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. Click here to buy tickets. Please pick up your reserved, prepaid tickets at the will-call table on the night of the performance. 

Donate gift cards and items for food pantry clients

SVdP board member Alpheen Menachery and her grandchildren with Turkey Tins they’re donating.

Because of high inflation, Thanksgiving will be more difficult than usual for many of the clients of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lincoln and Weston, which operates the shared food pantry, and its distributor is unable to supply turkeys this year. As a result, the food pantry is asking for donations of $25 gift cards from grocery stores (preferably Donelan’s) and/or items that will go into “Turkey Tin” food baskets. They expect about 130 families will receive the baskets and gift cards. To find out more and to sign up to donate, click here. Questions? Call 781-899-2611 x4 or email svdplincolnweston@gmail.com.

Substitute teachers needed

Lincoln Public Schools need full and half-day substitute teachers at a variety of grade levels in Lincoln and Hanscom Air Force Base. For more information, click here, email Kerry Parrella at kparrella@lincnet.org, or call 508-958-6872.

Another Lincolnite firefighter hired

Michael Goldblatt, Lincoln’s newest call firefighter.

Michael Goldblatt was one of 22 recruits to graduate from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Call/Volunteer Recruit Firefighter Training Program on November 1. The program delivers a standard recruit training curriculum, meeting national standards, on nights and weekends. Recruits learn to respond to all types of emergencies including gas leaks, chemical spills, drug overdoses, and trapped people as well as fires. Goldblatt was initially hired in Lincoln as an EMT and had to finish this training before he was allowed to ride on a fire truck or enter a structure fire (the Fire Department has three career firefighters and one per diem call firefighter at night to make up a shift of four.) He’s the third Lincoln-raised candidate who’s been hired in Lincoln as a call firefighter in the last three years. The other were Ronnie Row (who was hired three years ago but left for a job in Maynard) and Tom Blair.

Food pantry’s expenses are skyrocketing

Among those at the recent GBFB visit to the SVdP food pantry in Lincoln were (left to right) food pantry chair Karen Boyce; Christina Peretti, GBFB’s assistant director of community development; Norma Milligan and Lada Yunga, community investment associates; SVdP President Karen Salvucci; and Kim Mai, assistant chair of the food pantry.

Volunteers at Lincoln’s food pantry recently got a visit from their counterparts from the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), which supplies a substantial portion of the food that gets distributed locally. 

GBFB representatives shared snacks and conversation on October 26 as part of its Apple Cider Donut Tour of some of its 590 food distribution partners in 190 Massachusetts communities. The local food pantry, which is tucked away in a former garage behind St. Joseph’s Church in South Lincoln, is run by volunteers from St. Vincent dePaul Society of Lincoln and Weston (SVdP).

SVdP Lincoln/Weston picks up, sorts, stores, and distributes about 4,000 pounds of food per month from the GBFB in addition to items donated by residents and local farms (with the help of grants from the Lincoln Agricultural Council). The GBFB goods account for roughly 40% of the total distributed by SVdP Lincoln/Weston.

“We rely heavily on donations of food and money, especially for our new ‘healthy food’ section which includes gluten-free, lactose free, low-salt, low-sugar. whole grains, vegetarian, nut-free and organic foods to aggressively address the dietary restrictions for those with hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and circulatory issues as well as individuals who choose vegan and other eating options for their diets,” said SVdP Chair Karen Boyce.

Both the GBFB and SVdP Lincoln/Weston welcome donations of money as well as food. GBFB purchases 70% of the food it distributes and is seeing an overall 15% increase in average food pricing compared to last year, according to its June 2022 quarterly report, which notes that “the demand for food assistance persists at the highest level in our 40-year history.” SVdP buys about half of the food it distributes in Lincoln and Weston and also provides emergency financial aid, which actually comprises the lion’s share in dollar value of the services it provides. Financial help for clients accounted for 42% of its expenses, with another 25% going to food purchases, 11% for gift cards, and 17% for adult continuing education scholarships. Grants and monetary donations that year amounted to about $152,000.

And the cost for that food is increasing at an alarming pace. According to the latest figures for the fiscal year that ended on October 31, 2022, SVdP spent $71,866 on food — just about double the amount it spent the previous year, which in itself was double the amount compared to the year before that ($36,034 vs. $18,182) as recorded in its 2020-21 annual report.

In October 2022 alone, the cost of food purchased from GBFB and retail outlets was $7,904, even after four food drives and drop-off donations. That includes a $2,553 payment to the GBFB. The average monthly payment from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 was $2,155.

Because of high inflation, Thanksgiving will be more difficult than usual for many of SVdP’s clients, and its distributor is unable to supply turkeys this year. As a result, the food pantry is asking for donations of $25 gift cards from grocery stores (preferably Donelan’s) and/or items that will go into “Turkey Tin” food baskets. They expect about 130 families will receive the baskets and gift cards. To find out more and to sign up to donate, click here. Questions? Call 781-899-2611 x4 or email svdplincolnweston@gmail.com.