Stone Soup Cafe found me when Jim and I moved to MA in 2020, and I needed a social outlet to meet people in the middle of a global pandemic where everything was shut down. I love to cook. Stone Soup makes meals from scratch every Saturday....even holidays....for anyone that needs one. We are the only organization in our area serving hot food on the weekend. When I started helping them cook in 2020, we were serving around 350 meals every Saturday. We are now up to over 600 meals every Saturday. Franklin County, MA (where we are) is the least populated and poorest county in the state. Food insecurity has gone up by over 30% this year, and we are "on pace" to serve over 33,000 meals by the end of December. We are not a soup kitchen. We are a pay-what-you-can cafe and those that can pay something, anything...do. It covers only a fraction of our weekly food costs.

Every Saturday, 6:30-8:30 a.m., I am there doing final prep, and it is my place to be quiet, enjoy the company of others, and lend the skills that I have to make something nutritious, delicious, and vital to our community.

To give you a sense of what we prepare and serve, all of the meals are gluten free and there is always a vegan option. In the winter, there is always a soup to go with the entree, and every meal throughout the year has a dessert. Meals are designed to be inclusive of different religions, cultures, and holidays. Here was last week's menu.

I am asking that you consider making an end-of-year donation to this tiny organization, possibly far away from your home, but near and dear to my heart. Each meal costs $15 dollars to prepare. Would you please think about donating the cost for a family of your size for one week, two, three or four weeks? I know it's a lot given it's the holidays, and budgets are tight, but I hope you might participate.

Thank you from me...and Stone Soup Cafe.

Mara