Donate your coins and make a difference!

2nd Annual Collection Drive
October 17–25, 2009

Gather your friends and your spare change ...

Last year our largest source of donations was received from Gathering Change parties hosted by people who wanted to make a difference in their communities. Thanks to the generosity of those who offered their time and their spare change, these donations have been used to assist over 19 local food pantries to provide for the increasing number of families and individuals that need help making ends meet.

Every donation counts! Did you know ...
that one 16 oz. can filled with spare change
can add up to an average of $20.00? This could
put dinner on the table for a family in need.

Call 617-548-5357 to arrange local pick up of
your gathered coins or donate by check to:

Gathering Change, Inc.
c/o Saugus Bank
Route 1 @ 412 Lynn Fells Parkway
Saugus, MA 01906

Food Is Love

My daughter has recently gone to Copenhagen for a semester abroad and it has been a very exciting experience for her. We talk almost every day via Skype and I realized how much of our conversation revolves around food. We touch base on classes, excursions, friends, rooming situation but we always go back to the food-what did you eat for supper, how was the café down the street, what’s Danish food like, do you like Danish food, did you go grocery shopping, what did you buy, what did it cost, what did you cook…I’m telling you the list could go on and on. And it’s every, single time we speak.

Here’s one of our Skype stories. Recently she decided to buy kidney beans in a bag and try to cook those. We told her to soak them overnight in water and then cook them for about an hour. So instead, she soaked them for 2 nights and showed us what thy looked like afterwards. They were the size of peanuts in there shell. We encouraged her to wash them quickly, heat them over and see how they tasted. They weren’t very good. They were still hard. And last time I talked to her she tried to eat them again but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Another story revolves around the bagel she bought down the street and all the yummy things she had on it – pesto, butter, chicken, tomatoes – and how good the sandwich was. Yes, this is our conversation. We ooh and aah over all the food stories.

Oh and then there’s the Danish meal she received courtesy of her tour group while traveling through Denmark, the famous Danish open sandwich. And the suppers she cooks with her friends. And the grocery shopping where she’s not quite sure what some of the food is or where to find a piece of chicken. And that fish. What IS it?

Anyway, you get the picture. The conversation is usually how was class, what did you eat today, how are your new friends, did you enjoy dinner, what did you explore today, what does your kitchen look like. I realized that every other comment was about food. And this was how we were nurturing her from aboard – by asking her if she is physically nurturing herself. Just by asking about her dinner I feel I am nurturing her.

As a board member of Gathering Change, it just made me realize how we equate food and eating with love and care. So what does a mother do when there’s not enough food? How does she feel and how does she nurture? The importance of supporting the food pantries who help these moms and families took on an even deeper meaning for me. If a family can get a few bags of groceries then they feel cared for. Children feel loved when they are feed well. Individuals feel they are important and part of a community when that community provides for them in ways they are having trouble providing for themselves.

I may be chuckling at the constant food banter I am having with my daughter but the importance of food is no laughing matter. I have realized how essential our food pantries are and how important our contributions to them can be. It’s made me feel an ever stronger impetus to collect food and spare change so that every mom and dad, every family, every individual who comes looking for some food can be serviced in a caring and competent manner. In all cultures food is love. Let us continue to work towards providing that care for all.

Marianne Snow

Bon Appetit, part 2

The dining room in my first apartment.
My favorite meal in my twenties:
Chicken Piccata over wild rice
served with a side of cherry tomatoes in a
basil, olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette

We all know how hard it can be to feed a family in this down-economy. When a parent loses a job, has hours cut, or doesn't receive an expected bonus ... the financial impact can certainly change the way a family eats and shops.

But what about young adults? The twenty-somethings who are heading off to college or are out there trying to make a living during a time when jobs can be scarce and the ones out there are extremely low-paying? Some post-graduates (or the many who are on a financial-sabbatical from college) may even have huge student loan debt plus rent to pay, while being financially responsible for the first time.

I remember spending $20.00 a week on groceries back when I had my first job, my first apartment, and years worth of student loans ahead of me (hard to believe this is going back 20 years now). Back then, $20.00 actually bought a decent amount of food for one person (who ate like a bird anyway). Breakfast was a bagel. I didn't drink coffee. Lunch was yogurt or salad. Dinner was bread, cheese and fruit; a spinach, mushroom and feta cheese calzone; or a splurge would be chicken piccata (a rare meal that I made for friends). I didn't worry much about putting food on my table back then, but what if I were just starting out on my own in the challenging economy of 2009?

Today, that same $20.00 might amount to a loaf of bread, a roast chicken, some apples, a box of cereal and perhaps a gallon of milk. As long as you like cereal (which is actually a good healthy choice provided it isn't covered with sugar) you could probably get by for a few days with this amount of food. But what if you had less than $20.00 to spend after paying bills, rent, etc.? What if you didn't even have a job? Today there are no guarantees. There are people in every age group that are struggling with how to get by with tighter budgets.

While blog-surfing (I started on Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic and then kept going ...) I caught a series of posts on how to survive during financially difficult times from the experienced point of view of the very chic Amoura Rose of Vancouver BC (her motto is "Live beautifully. Think elegantly"). In one entry, she tells the story of how as a student she was living on a food budget of a mere $5 to $15 per week. Her post on ways to really save money on food is worth taking a look at ... it certainly isn't artful cooking, but it is food for thought. (be sure to read the posted comments for additional tips on eating healthy while saving money at the grocery store). A box of mac and cheese doesn't have to be the answer ...

Frugal Food by Amoura Rose

Something else I have been thinking about ...

Double-Layer Tacos from Betty Crocker.com

When trying to come up with inexpensive recipes, look to cuisines that are known to feed a lot for less. I just read a great book, The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal. In it, the main character, a chef at an Aspen restaurant, whips up delicious menus based on her family roots in New Mexico, while discovering the essential ingredients to living a happy life. Favorite recipes linked to cherished memories are sprinkled throughout the novel. Sharing the experience of food, like creating tacos with family or friends for example, can satisfy hunger while nourishing the soul. Buen apetito!

Posted by Yvonne Blacker

What is time?

With my mother coming to the end of her life here on earth, I am reminded how quickly life goes by and that it is made up of a series of moments. When my father was a soldier in World War II, he was stationed in the Pacific. Every time he wrote home he would end the letter with "What is time?" This is how a young boy of 17 dealt with being homesick. This saying is also etched on his gravestone that my mother will be sharing with him shortly.

Last night, my husband and I, along with our children and their significant others, enjoyed a delicious meal at Taranta. This restaurant is in the North End on Hanover Street. The menu combines Southern Italian Cuisine with Peruvian Cuisine. All the windows were open and it was as if the energy coming into the restaurant from the street was shared with the patrons and vice-versa. This is restaurant week, and they offered a fixed price menu with lots of choices. We all enjoyed what we had.

There is nothing more intimate than sharing a meal with those we love. To listen, laugh, tell stories and be seen and heard by the person sitting across, diagonal or next to you at a table. For an hour and a half there is no place to go other than where you are. The urgency of the day and the worry of tomorrow is replaced with the present. Something that challenges most of us to be in. Our public display of affection on the street afterward, as we said our goodbye's to one another, replayed in my head during the night many times. Perhaps it is because my mother is in her final stage of her life that I am aware how precious and few these moments are.

Until we meet again, what is time?

Dorothy Goodwin

Bon Appetit

I saw the Julie & Julia movie yesterday, which is based on Julia Child's early days in France. Julie is looking for meaning in her own life and decides to recreate every Julia Child recipe while sharing her experience on her blog. What takes Julie one year to complete took Julia 8 years to write. I love and respect food and I cook, but I don't love it. Julie & Julia were not put off by the shopping, the unusual ingredients, the hours of preparation, the cost or cleaning up afterward. They prepared the food with love and true artistry. I don't have the daily constitution to shop, chop, saute, steam, bake, broil and boil. I rush though the grocery store as if my carriage is on fire. I cannot stand loading and unloading the groceries. I have a small kitchen so there is not always enough room for everything, especially if I go to Costco and purchase food items that come in enormous sizes. Then there is the dealing with the refrigerator and where to put everything, especially in summer when condiments rule the shelves and little room is left for anything else. This got me thinking, which I do every now and then, what if I could help people create meals that were healthy, simple and inexpensive to prepare.

I will post recipes and photos of food I make, once a week, using ingredients that won't break the bank. Other board members will submit their recipes as well. If you have one to share, by all means send it in so we can publish it on the blog. Eventually, depending on the number of recipes, there may be a separate section on the blog.

Julia Child I am not, but helping others eat healthy on less, I am all for that.

Bon Appetit!

Dorothy Goodwin

Another Man's Treasure

We are always surprised to see what treasures are among the spare change as it goes into the change machine. One of our most memorable collections of spare change came from an elderly man who had been a firefighter. After 50 years of saving his change, most of it pennies, his wife called and asked if we would come and pick it up. Not knowing what to expect or how much spare change we would find, MS and I brought along a few suitcases.

Upon arriving at his home very few words were exchanged. We were told ahead of time he was hard of hearing. When he opened the door to let us in he pointed to two tall black boots and another container full of change that was sitting on the floor. A sign that even though he no longer wore the boots he continued to find a purpose for them.

What he did not realize was that mixed in with the change was baby teeth. Perhaps they were his children's or his grandchildren's. Perhaps he was the tooth fairy on more than one occasion. Whatever the reason, he saved the teeth with the change. This was his treasure chest.

After we emptied the change out of the boots and into the suitcases, we thanked him, shook hands and said goodbye. As we rolled our new collection out to the car we could not help but wonder how much money we had and additionally, how many people would be helped by his generosity. With a grunt, we lifted the cases into the trunk, waved and said thank you again. He stood in the doorway watching us as we backed out of the driveway and began to make our way down the street. Perhaps he was saying goodbye to many years of memories.

I don't know what made me think about this today. Maybe it is because I struggle with the asking. I have to remember that I am asking for those that cannot. I will never forget the look on his face, and the tug MS and I felt in our hearts, as we drove away with his treasure.

And so it continues. I (we) will never stop asking! What's in your pocket? A loaf of bread? A gallon of milk?

Dorothy Goodwin

Daily Reconcilliations

I heard the word reconcile used on the news and it made me think about all the things I am dealing with at this moment.

When I heard that the economy was coming out of a recession followed by the fact the unemployment rate would probably climb to 10% over the coming year and a half...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that new home sales are up 11% which is wonderful news, but foreclosures are up as well and home sales fell to an 11 year low....How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that my mother is on her final journey here on earth but hospice cannot tell me if that means next week or tomorrow...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that there were 400 people in line at the food pantry in Lawrence this week, a 33% jump from last year...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that people think the need for emergency food is only great in the winter months and some food pantries may have to close their doors because their shelves are bare...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that my AC needed to be adjusted for $500 but now a week later it needs another adjustment for $400...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard that deflation is keeping businesses open but not profitable...How do I reconcile that?

When I leave the grocery store after shelling out $150 and realize I don't have anything to make a complete meal...How do I reconcile that?

When I heard the swine flu is expected to be on the increase in the fall and hopefully there will be a vaccine, but they are not sure if it will be enough...How do I reconcile that?

Maybe you can tell by my tone that I have had a difficult week. I am holding onto information, some of which has a direct impact in my life, and some does not. A wise friend MS told me "YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN PATH." Greater words have never been spoken and I try to live by them daily. I (we) cannot control everything that happens in life or in the lives of those I (we) know and love. All any of us can do is support one another through the ups and downs with the gifts we have available to us, so that through our darkest moments when hope is disguised as fear, and joy is a distant memory, we are comforted in knowing that we are not alone. I can reconcile that!

Dorothy Goodwin