Tomatoes Stacked! Today: Rice, Black Beans, Clam Chowder:

Ben’s Ready Rice (Pack of 6), $8.98.

Bush’s Best Canned Black Beans (Pack of 12), $11.88.

Campbell’s Chunky Soup (Case of 8), $17.20.

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More good news from Sarah Harrington, the amazing leader of the Cambridge Food Pantry. While so many other pantries are struggling or failing, Sarah is holding things together.

She has been struggling for days to keep tomato-related items on the shelves and finally turned to the Army of Good for help. They responded, as always.

“Fully stocked on all three,” she told me this morning. “That’s great. Just in time; there is a food session today.” The boxes arrived over the weekend.

“One of our largest grants has just run out, so our budget is pretty thin,” she said. “We are so grateful to the Army of Good; they are helping keep us afloat.”

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Message from the Army of Good to the volunteers of the Cambridge Pantry:

“Happy Birthday, Jon. Your blog has enriched my life for many years. Once again, you show your generous spirit by asking that we give gifts to the Pantry instead of to you. Have a wonderful birthday, Valerie Meisch Shue.

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Mike is a hard-working Pantry donor and a deeply religious person whose shirts both touch and fascinate me. He has a different one each day. He works hard and quietly.

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As many of you know, Food Pantries and programs are struggling all over the country.

I wanted to explain why the Cambridge Pantry is holding its own. First, Sarah Harrington, the Pantry Director, is one of the most competent, compassionate,  organized, and savvy leaders I’ve encountered in my long life in media, TV, and publishing. She is a wonderful director and is working miracles. It’s a rough job. Her leadership has inspired me and others.

The second reason is the extraordinary volunteer force from Cambridge, working every day under difficult circumstances to make the very complex Pantry work. Their community is behind them.

And last but not least, the Army of Good, which has stayed loyally with the Pantry through all of this trouble and is keeping the best items and foods on the shelves. Sarah: “We would have many empty shelves if the Army of Good were not supporting us. Other Pantries are really hurting. We are going through our supplies quickly, but our Pantry is hanging in there. Thank you for that.”

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To me, the struggles of the Pantry are the struggles of our country, hoping to become compassionate and gentle once again. Thanks, Army of Good,  for keeping my hope alive.

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Thanks for sending Betty Crocker Mixes to the Pantry; it is frustrating to see these shelves empty again. The number of customers is growing, and the shelves are stocking.

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We are supporting the Pantry in any way possible. The Pantry Amazon Wish List is available day or night for independent browsing. Thanks so much for helping.

If you wish, you can help the Cambridge Food Pantry any time, day or night. Every item on the list is urgently needed. Items are removed as soon as the Pantry has enough of them to put on the shelves.

Almost all of these items were requested by the people coming to the Pantry for food support.

Feel free to visit the Wish List at any time to choose your own contribution. Please don’t send money to me. Amazon is the most efficient way for the Pantry and the quickest response. And thank you again.

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