Presidents Report
Goffstown Network, Inc
June 2, 2015
Introduction
At last year’s Annual Meeting, I reported that traffic at the Goffstown Network Food Pantry had finally begun to
decline after years of relentless increases. I am happy to report that trend has continued. Since 2005, pantry traffic had
increased steadily year over year, until finally leveling off two years ago. It has taken time for the economic improvement
following the recent devastating recession to be reflected in our statistics. The improvement has been slight; nevertheless,
any improvement is most welcome, as it represents real people and families, real lives. From May of 2014 to April of
2015, we had 1596 visits to the pantry by families, 5065 people total, for an average of 140 families/432 people each
month. That is a decrease of 2 families per month, 2 people per month, over the previous year, and 7 families/12 people
per month over the year before. For this continued downward trend, we are thankful not only for the improvement in
peoples lives, but for the relief it brings to our efforts. For a variety of reasons we continue to struggle to maintain our
supply, and we continue to see shortages of various items. Thanks to the efforts of our purchasers, our overall supply
remains good.
We have so many we need to thank for our continued success. Our greatest strength is the communities in which we
live. The people of Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston bless us with the steady, year-round support we need to keep
going. In addition to several food drives held each year (see “highlights”), we continue to receive regular donations at the
pantry and at our drop box in Hannaford’s supermarket; the financial support we receive from families, civic organizations
and businesses is particularly helpful. The grocery stores in town have been very cooperative, helpful, and generous. We
have a terrific relationship with Goffstown area schools; each holds a can drive on our behalf during the holiday season,
and school administrators and faculty work to educate students on the need to help those in the community who may be
less fortunate. The churches in town continue to be strong supporters of our organization, whether through the donation of
space, food or cash. Many civic organizations in town have supported us generously as well, including The Goffstown
Lions Club, The Pinardville Lions Club, and The Goffstown Rotary Club. Individuals and families continued to do the
same.
Another of our strengths is the tremendous volunteer support we receive. Our volunteer corps remains strong. Over the
course of the year, we enjoy the help of approximately 80 volunteers. They provide leadership, run the regular operation
of our pantry, purchase and pick-up food, or help in various ways during our holiday programs and the many food drives
held throughout the year. Youth volunteer participation has been steady the past twelve months. We are so grateful for
their participation; they provide much needed muscle, and they infuse our operation with a youthful spirit.
We have a strong team of food purchasers working to keep our shelves well-stocked. Vice-President Roger Fortier
directs our current team of Jeff and Joan Alayne Stevens, Dick Wood, and Alice Belanger. We also have several teams of
volunteers making pick-up runs to Hannaford’s each week, including Phil Hastings, Ron & Dallas Lavigne, and Bill &
Sue Babine. Roughly three quarters of the food we distribute comes to us thanks to their work, whether from the NH Food
bank, local retailers, or our participation in the USDA TEFAP program. In addition to basic staples, they procure an array
of frozen meat, produce, breads and other items. They work hard, and their efforts are very much appreciated.
Lastly, I’d like to say a word about the leadership of the Goffstown Network. I am so thankful to them for all that they
do. This year we welcome Mark Sullivan as incoming Treasurer. Mark has been a volunteer for us for a while. We are
looking forward to leveraging his expertise in this area. Our current treasurer, Barbara Herman, is moving over to
secretary. Barb has been treasurer for 15 years; I just can’t say enough about Barb and what she does for us. We’re very
happy that she is staying with us on the leadership team. I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Jean
Mazzarella for her service this past year as secretary. Jean will be staying on as an at-large leadership team member.
Serving Officers 2014-2015:
President:
Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Volunteer Coordinator:
Youth Volunteers Coord.:
Purchasers:
Dave Greiner
Roger Fortier
Jean Mazzarella
Barbara Herman
Rebecca Barlow
Kathleen Duncklee
Dick Wood, Roger Fortier, Jeff & Joan Alayne Stevens,
Alice Belanger, Phil Hastings
Weekly Collections:
Client Statistics:
Holiday Program Coord.:
Special Events Coord.:
Aime & Alice Belanger
Kristin Shaw
Julie Greiner
Dallas Lavigne
Highlights of the Year 2014-2015
Direction
Although, as I mentioned, we are in relatively good shape for this time of year, we continue to face challenges. We
are very pleased to have entered into an arrangement with Hannaford’s Supermarket in Goffstown, making two trips there
per week to receive surplus food. This arrangement could not have come at a better time for us, as we were struggling
mightily to keep up with some items, particularly meat. Summer continues to be our most difficult period. Due to a
variety of factors, donations slow to a trickle, and many of the agencies we rely on for supplies face the same problem. If
we were to track our supply over the course of a year, it would peak around or just after the holidays, then decline at a
fairly steady rate until September or early October, when we bottom out. Our participation in the USDA TEFAP (The
Emergency Food Program) continues to be a big help. Since joining TEFAP, we run out of items less frequently. Our
Board of Directors meets monthly; we continue to look for ways to improve both the operation of the pantry and the
service to our clients.
Facilities
We continue to enjoy the use of the St. Matthew’s Parish House as our Pantry location. We are grateful to St.
Matthew’s for their generous donation of this space. When we are open for business on Wednesday evenings and Saturday
mornings, we pretty much take over the Parish House and parking lot. We now have one freezer and two refrigerators
upstairs in the Parish House, four freezers and one refrigerator downstairs in the Parish House, and one large freezer in the
back of the 9 N. Mast building. The Thanksgiving Program was again held at the Masonic Temple; the Christmas
Program at St. Lawrence Catholic Church. Thanks to both for making us feel welcome and generously allowing us to use
their space.
USDA TEFAP
We are finishing our fourth year with this program, and it continues to pay dividends. The program food comes to us in
deliveries every other month. Handling these pickups (usually on a weekday morning) at Southern NH Services in
Manchester presents a challenge for us, as they come at a time when relatively few are available to help. Our participation
in this program requires an inspection once every three years. During the past year, we had our facilities inspected by the
state USDA coordinator, and passed with flying colors.
New Hampshire Food Bank
The New Hampshire Food Bank does a great job serving agencies like ours in New Hampshire. Using donated funds,
we purchase the majority of our food from the Food Bank at sharply discounted prices. While we continue to be very
pleased with the NH Food Bank, they, like everyone, are struggling to keep up with demand in the state. Our purchasers
have done a great job leveraging this important resource. The NH Food Bank is under the Feeding America umbrella of
food related non-profits. As part of our annual agreement with them, we are inspected by a representative of the NH Food
Bank each year. We are proud to say that they regard us as a “model agency”.
Schools
We continue to enjoy, and benefit from, a close relationship with area schools. All the schools in Goffstown conduct a
holiday food drive on our behalf just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, with the exception of Goffstown High School,
who conduct theirs prior to Christmas. As they do every year, the schools collected and donated an incredible amount of
food. Our thanks to the administration, faculty, staff, the students and their families at Mountain View Middle School,
Maple Ave and Bartlett Elementary Schools, Glen Lake School, The Villa, and New Morning School in Bedford. The
Goffstown High School Christmas food drive was a great success again this year. The donations from this large drive
provide the bulk of what we use for our Christmas giveaway program, and allow us to run this program without having to
spend huge amounts of cash to purchase food, while still handing out a generous amount of food for our clients. In
addition to coordinating the drive, the student council comes to St. Lawrence the Friday of the program and unloads, sorts
and counts the food items for us. We couldn’t do this program without their help. As usual, the Student Council members
were well organized and energetic. Thanks to Principal Frank McBride, the faculty, staff, students and their families.
Special thanks to the Student Council and their faculty advisors, Erin McKinnon and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Food Drives
These drives are an important supplement to our usual supply sources. They are also helpful in that they provide us with a
diversity of items that we can’t always get through our usual sources.
Brown Bag Sunday – As they have for the last several years, community churches gathered food and personal care
items for our food pantry in the fall. As always, this ingathering came at a good time, as our supplies had dwindled after
the slow summer months. As is usually the case, the St. Lawrence Parish Community in particular gathered quite a bit of
food. We continue to enjoy a close relationship with the churches in our town, and we are thankful to the clergy and
parishioners for their generous support.
National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive – The largest single day food drive in the
country, this is an important one for us. This year’s drive, conducted on May 9th, gathered 3000 lbs. of food and personal
care items. Special thanks to Dave Grant, who has been the coordinator of this event at the Goffstown Post Office for a
very long time, and all the area letter carriers in Goffstown for making this event a continuing success story.
Goffstown Little League Baseball Drive – After having been rained out last year, we were due for some better weather
this year, and we got it. The drive was a great success; thanks to Goffstown Junior Baseball, the board, managers, coaches
and families for their generosity.
Boy Scouts – Another large annual drive; once again this year the scouts brought the food they collected from within our
community directly to our pantry, rather than taking it to a statewide gathering. This drive has turned into a huge event
for us, and we couldn’t be more pleased. Thanks to the scouts, their leaders, and the community.
Holiday Gift Basket Program
The annual Thanksgiving and Christmas gift programs are huge undertakings. Thankfully, we once again enjoyed
good weather for both, allowing them to run relatively smoothly. We’re very thankful to the many, many volunteers who
came out to help us sort and distribute food. Thanks also to The Masons and to St. Lawrence Church, for their generous
donation of the space we use for these programs, and to Julie Greiner and Barbara Herman, who again helped coordinate
this program.
Grow a Row
This will be our third year for the “Grow a Row” program. The program seeks to encourage local gardeners to grow an
extra row of vegetables for donation to the pantry. We love this program because it’s a great way to get healthy, locally
grown food to our clients. And it adds yet another way for supporters of our organization to help. Barbara Schult has
again volunteered to shepherd the program this year. As she has done in years past, Barbara is also coordinating the
operation of a plot at the community garden on Mast Rd. Special thanks to Barbara, and to The Goffstown Public Library,
Goffstown Ace Hardware, Devriendt Farms, and Liberty Press for assistance in this program.
Going Green
The pantry has traditionally relied extensively on the use of plastic bags in food distribution. In an effort towards
environmental sustainability, we are attempting to transition from plastic to re-usable bags. While we still have a long
way to go, we have had some success in reducing the number of bags we use on a monthly basis.
Pantry Vehicle
The vehicle used by the food purchasers for their regular bi-weekly runs to the NH Food Bank and to help out with
collections at can drives and special events is approaching the end of its useful life. Sincere thanks to Roger and Brenda
Fortier for their generous donation of this vehicle. Having this vehicle has been invaluable to us. In the past we asked
volunteers to use their own vehicles, but this is asking a lot, as these pickups can be very hard on them. Having a pantry
vehicle also allows us to employ volunteers who might not otherwise be able to volunteer, due to not having a suitable
vehicle of their own. We are actively looking for a replacement vehicle at this time.
Respectfully Submitted
David Greiner, President
Goffstown Network, Inc.