The Dedham Food Pantry presented Dedham business owners with the opportunity to place a Dedham Food Pantry donation can at their  business locations from December 1, 2007 through January 2, 2008, for the benefit of the three-hundred Dedham families assisted by the Food Pantry on a continuous basis and collected  a total of $417.85.

The following twenty-seven Dedham businesses participated:  Blue Bunny, Cathay Kitchen, Cafe Fresh Bagel, C.V.S.-Dedham Square, C.V.S.-East Dedham, Century Antiques, Courtyard Florist, Dedham Community Theater, Dedham Flower Shoppe, Dedham Women’s’ Exchange, District One Convenience, East Dedham Nail & Spa, Fifties’ Diner, High Street Cafe, It’s All Greek To Me Restaurant, Java Coffee Shop, Malibu, Mimi’s II, Nest, Newbury Yarn, Oakdale Pizza and Coffee Shop, P-K Nail Salon, Pizzadoro, Salon 561, Sergi Barber Shop, Tedeschi Convenience and Wardle’s Pharmacy.

Each donation can had a sticker affixed to the bottom which contained the name and telephone number of the Dedham Food Pantry contact for the convenience of the business owner.  As each can was retrieved at the end of the holiday donation drive, in the presence of an employee at each location, a sticker was affixed to the can’s donation slot with the

businesses’ name on it and it was delivered to the Dedham Food Pantry’s volunteer Treasurer to be counted and deposited.   A the Women’s Exchange, a nonprofit business, there was a customer who, unknown to them, became a Dedham Food Pantry donor by destiny.  One of the volunteer sales assistants found a five-dollar bill on the floor and when she discussed with her volunteer coworkers what they should do with it, they decided to put it into the Dedham Food Pantry donation can.

The five-year old grandson of the Dedham Food Pantry contact who distributed and collected the donation cans received his first community service experience as he carefully affixed the labels to each slot on the donation cans.  He was pleased to go to twenty-two business locations and learn that even he, young as he is, could make a contribution to his community by assisting in collecting money for the benefit of three-hundred financially disadvantaged families in his home town.

Both the Women’s’ Exchange and the Fifties’ Diner have requested Dedham Food Pantry donation cans be placed at their locations all year long and not just during the holiday season.

Thank you for all your support!

Ann Callahan-Spellman