"pledges are still arriving"

Milford Daily News reporter Matt Tota talked with Erin Lynch, Food Pantry Development Director to get a recap of the recent phone-a-thon:

This weekend’s fundraising effort had more than 35 chipper volunteers staffing 15 phones at Dean College’s calling center. Working in shifts, they tackled a list of 3,500 households, calling 90 percent of them, said Erin Lynch, the pantry’s development director. 

"The volunteers did a great job of reaching out to residents and increasing the awareness for the pantry," Lynch said Monday. 

Extra chairs had to be procured because more volunteers arrived for the six-hour telethon than expected. After their shifts ended, some were so locked in that they begged to continue manning the phones. 

"People get really excited when a call goes well," Lynch said.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1433785430/Franklin-Food-Pantrys-Phone-A-Thon-a-success#ixzz2LLMPuI6x

Dean College bulldog

Our thanks to Dean College for providing the facilities and phones, to all the volunteers for their enthusiastic help making the calls and to all the donors who are following through on their pledges to help!

Phone-a-thon Feb 16th

Food Pantry Phone-a-thon sign on the triangle before the storm

The snow storm, blizzard Nemo, buried the opportunity to make phone calls last weekend. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for this Saturday. 

Volunteers are still needed. You can contact Bob Hamilton via email at bob@franklinfoodpantry.org or call the Food Pantry 508-528-3115 and use option 5 to leave your name, phone number or email address.

Thanks to Dean College we will be using their phone bank and calls from us will show up as "Dean College" for those with caller ID.

If you would like to donate via the Food Pantry website, we are enabled to take your donation securely online.  http://www.franklinfoodpantry.org/

Calling for the Pantry!

Volunteers for the Franklin Food Pantry will be calling residents of Franklin, MA as part of a fundraising effort during specific time periods on Saturday, Feb 9, 2013. The volunteers will be using the phone bank at Dean College to call residents.  

The volunteers will announce that this is the 3rd annual phone call fundraising effort for the Food Pantry. The Pantry is looking to raise funds to provide for the over 600 individuals it services each month.

Franklin Food Pantry - new logo

Donors will be asked to make their contribution via credit card, or to make a pledge. The pledge will result in regular mail sent to their address which can be returned via the mail with a check, or the check could be dropped off at the Pantry during operating hours.

If using a credit card, donors will be asked to visit the Food Pantry website and make a secure transaction with their credit card. The website can be found at http://franklinfoodpantry.org/

Note that the volunteer calls will appear as “Dean College” for those with caller ID.
The Food Pantry thanks Dean College for the gracious access to their phone bank for this fundraiser.

Volunteers to make the phone calls are still welcome. There are several time slots to choose from. If you would like to help with this effort, please call the Food Pantry.

Saturday, Feb 9th
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.


For additional information on the campaign, contact Bob Hamilton at the Franklin Food Pantry. Telephone Number: 508-528-3115. Bob can also be reached via email at bob@franklinfoodpantry.org



Note: yes, this is the new logo for the Franklin Food Pantry. You will see more of it as the Pantry continues to spread the word about the good work it does for our Franklin neighbors.

Hunger Banquet - November 13, 7:00 PM

Losing power seems to be a random event. Your residence loses power and folks on the next block still have power. Frustrating? You bet. During the recent storms, you can drive around Franklin and see houses with lights and power, and then rows of houses in the dark.

Hunger can be like that too. It is usually less visible. The person next to you looks normal. How can you tell if they are hungry? Dean students have set up this event to discuss hunger and its effects.

Taking a “can drive” one step further, Dean College invites the Franklin and surrounding communities to a public “Hunger Banquet” on Tuesday, November 13, in which participants will experience a meal either as an Upper Income citizen, Middle Income citizen, or Lower Income citizen. Dean Community Outreach students conceptualized and will emcee this learning experience where guests will be assigned a class upon arrival and will experience life as a member of that class for the duration of the program. Upper income class guests will receive a scrumptious meal served to them in an upper class setting at a roundtable. Middle income class guests will experience their meal middle class meal at rectangular tables, while the lower income class experiences their meal on the floor.

This event is free. Participants are asked to bring a canned good for the Franklin Food Pantry

Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 PM 

at the Dean College Campus Center

Info from the Dean College calendar
http://www.dean.edu/events/index.cfm?calid=4858

And Franklin Town News
http://franklintownnews.com/content/dean-college-hunger-banquet