Exeter Rotarians help to feed the hungry

EXETER — The Exeter Rotary Club is proud to report that through the generosity of the Exeter and Stratham communities it collected 7,324.31 pounds of food for the food pantry at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Community Assistance Center during its third annual “Stuff the Bus” Food Drive which was held last month.

The Southern District YMCA Camp Lincoln and First Student Bus Company of Salem, donated two mini-buses and a full-size school bus that were placed in front of three area grocery stores for the day.

Customers of Market Basket and Shaw’s of Stratham and Hannaford of Exeter filled the buses with items specifically requested by the pantry. Each store put its own spin on the event from Dean Clevesy, Market Basket store manager, who kept his customers in the spirit by making fun and encouraging announcements on the store’s loudspeaker throughout the day; to Donna Smith of Hannaford placing colorful balloons throughout the store pointing out bags of donations; to the team at Shaw’s donating unsold bags of groceries from the event to the pantry.

This year’s event had a “green” side as well. Because the pantry will be transitioning away from paper and plastic bags on June 1, all store-packed donations were placed in reusable cloth bags which were also donated to the pantry after the event.

Over 50 volunteers including Rotary Club members and their families, Vincentians, Exeter High School Rotary Interact Club members, community members and the Youth Group from St. Michael’s Parish kept the St. Vincent de Paul van on the move all day, going from store to store shuttling donated items back to the Center.

“This is what being a Rotarian is all about. Exeter Rotarians that had yet to take part in this event made sure to volunteer this year,” said Leigh Willett, 2014-2015 Exeter Rotary president. “The generosity of our community is so uplifting.”

The Exeter Rotary Club has been a non-profit member of our Exeter Area Community since 1959. Rotary is one of the largest international humanitarian service organizations in the world, with more than 1.2 million Rotary members worldwide.

The Exeter Rotary Club conducts many community projects and supports local non-profits whose work benefits those that live and work in Exeter area. The Exeter Rotary Club meets each Monday at the Exeter Inn. Meetings are open to the public; luncheon cost is $17. If you are interested in attending, contact President Leigh Willett at waletts@gmail.com. Space is limited.

To be placed on a mailing list for information regarding next year’s Exeter Rotary “Stuff the Bus” Food Drive, contact Rachael MacDonnell, “Stuff the Bus” coordinator, at 828-8936 or rmacdonnell@optimabank.com.