Carly, left, and Nealie Morey, daughters of Operation Summer Snacks’ Jill Russell-Morey, help with shopping for supplies. Courtesy of Jill Russell-Morey
Operation Summer Snacks
Operation Summer Snacks is an initiative of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Windham. In the summer months, the Parish collects food for children in the community who are in need. The children receive bags of food from the “Backpackers” program during the school year, but they still need healthy snacks in the summer when school is not in session.
“My family is running the program from our house this summer,” said Jill Russell-Morey, a catechetical leader who helped create the initiative in 2016. “We weren’t sure how we were going to be able to swing it with the pandemic situation.”
But where there is a will, there is a way. Even with the coronavirus concerns, the initiative is off to its best start ever.
“It’s amazing,” Russell-Morey explained. “For example, one generous lady had a large box of snacks sent directly to my house from Sam’s Club!”
Other community members and parishioners have made a number of contributions including individual-sized snacks such as raisins, crackers, fruit cups and granola bars.
“We work with the Windham Food Pantry and they really need our help, especially in summer. They requested we not break the original packaging up this year, which allows for less handling of the packages and easier storage,” Russell-Morey said.
If you would like to make a contribution, contact Russell-Morey at jill.russellmorey@portlanddiocese.org. Every little snack goes a very long way for a child in need of healthy food choices this summer.
Library is open
The Windham Public Library reopened a few weeks ago, but just in case you weren’t aware, the hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. They are also offering Library-to-Go curbside service, which is available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. For details about safety measures and new procedures, visit windham.lib.me.us/library-reopening or call the library at 892-1908.
Open Space webinar
Windham is creating an Open Space and Recreation Plan to guide decision making related to parks, preserves, recreation areas, trails and conserved lands. Residents are encouraged to visit the project’s website to complete a survey about preferences and visit the site’s “map room” to review draft maps and add pins to the interactive map. You’re also able to make comments on the site’s discussion board. A live webinar is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, via the town’s Facebook page. Join in to see what people in the community have had to say and express some feelings of you own. For more information, visit windhamopenspace.com.
Haley Pal can be contacted at haleypal.aol.com.
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