HARWICH PORT — Even combined with the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Saturday’s heavy rain that saturated the ground did nothing to dampen the spirits of those who came out to support the annual “Homeless for the Holidays” drive in Harwich Port. This was the sixth year firefighters and police came together to collect toys and food and raise money for the program established in 2002 by Bourne fire...

HARWICH — Local firefighters and police officers will join together for the sixth consecutive year to make the holiday season a little easier for those facing hard times. The public safety staff will be “Homeless for the Holidays” for three days beginning on Friday, Dec. 4. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the setting will be changed this year. The homeless encampment set up in Brooks Park by fire and poli...

The holiday season always puts a big demand on area food pantries, but this year the Lower Cape Outreach Council is facing an even greater need for donations due to the challenges area families are facing due to the ongoing pandemic, which has cost many folks on the Lower Cape their income. This morning, registered families will pick up turkeys, fresh produce, and all the fixings for a delicious Thanksgiving d...

Emily Yerby works for The Greater Boston Food Bank and came home from an “insanely” hard day at work too exhausted to cook dinner. So she threw some haddock chowder on the stove, the same chowder that has been offered at pantries across the state. “It was perfect,” she said. “This for me has been a silver lining during all this chaos.” The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance's new haddock chowder first...

Not knowing where one’s next meal is coming from causes more than just a rumble in the stomach. It turns out it can cause a host of health problems, some of which take years to manifest. Known as “food insecurity,” it’s a problem that typically afflicts around 10 percent of the population on Cape Cod, or around 28,000 people. This year, because of the pandemic and economic disaster, about 650,000 people in eas...

Pandemic Means Huge Demand On Family Pantry The pandemic, and the economic uncertainty it brings, has forced more and more people to turn to the Family Pantry of Cape Cod for help putting food on the table. And thanks to the community’s incredible generosity in the last three months, the Pantry has been able to meet that demand, adapting to a drive-through pantry model for COVID-19 safety and expanding its mob...

Impact Fund To Contribute As Demand Grows Threefold CHATHAM – In the past three months, the number of people served by the small food pantry at Chatham Elementary School has tripled. Given the demand, the pantry, which usually closes when school ends, will continue providing groceries to local residents through the summer. “We obviously have a desperate need that is not going away,” said Principal Robin Mil...

More than 25,000 free meals have been distributed by the Monomoy Regional School District since classes shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Nauset district has also been distributing free meals daily for all school-aged kids in the community over the past several months. Concerned about students continuing to receive the nutritional benefits the food provides after school ends next week, the Monomoy ...

NORTH HARWICH — Thankfully, Cape Cod has yet to experience a surge of COVID-19 patients in area hospitals. But from the perspective of the Family Pantry of Cape Cod, the surge in clients is already here. The nonprofit recently reported a 97 percent increase in new client visits this April compared to the previous April. The numbers show what’s already clear from the line of vehicles outside the Pantry: more pe...

HARWICH — The days of seniors coming into the community center for a hearty lunch were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there remain elderly residents in need of a good daily meal. Town Chef Linda St. Pierre has been busy preparing these nutritious lunches-to-go for seniors. “I miss my seniors terribly, a lot of them are wonderfully entertaining,” St. Pierre said of the folks who came to the center for ...

HARWICH — With more businesses either closing their doors or reducing staff, more people are reaching out to The Family Pantry of Cape Cod and the Lower Cape Outreach Council to feed their families. Family Pantry Director Christine Menard said Monday the pantry is seeing an increase in the number of people in need of food for their families, many of whom were just laid off. There are others who have utilized t...

In tiny printing, a woman penned a simple note of thanks to the Family Pantry of Cape Cod, and that note tells the whole story. Year after year, season after season, the Pantry provides more than just nutritious food. It serves up compassion and dignity. Support Helping Neighbors Thanks to generous Cape ...

Benefits The Family Pantry Of Cape Cod Donations of every size, large and small, enable The Chronicle’s Helping Neighbors campaign to provide important support for the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. But sometimes, an individual’s generosity is worth highlighting. Support Helping Neighbors Helping Neighbors i...

If you needed any proof of the power of generosity, here's some: In the 15-year history of The Chronicle's annual Helping Neighbors, our readers have contributed more than $1 million dollars to the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. The milestone was reached last week. Support Helping Neighbors “That's a pretty bre...

When the Family Pantry was created 30 years ago, it was designed to be a safety net for the most vulnerable members of the community: people who had just lost their jobs or experienced some major financial crisis. Support Helping Neighbors Those days are gone. Today, the Family Pantry also helps meet a d...

Supermarkets will soon be featuring turkeys and the other essentials for Thanksgiving feasts, and local food pantries are asking you to remember them when you’re making your shopping list. The Family Pantry of Cape Cod will be distributing 400 complete turkey dinners for clients to cook at home, with each frozen turkey accompanied by stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce and more. Donations of medium-sized froze...