The guest speaker at the club’s October 7 meeting at the Starboard Galley was Jane Merrow, co-founder of the all-volunteer First Parish Newbury Food Pantry, located in a 40×50-foot building behind the church on High Road in Newbury. Some 300-400 clients a week place orders for pick-up or delivery on Fridays.

Food and personal care items are stocked from the Boston Food Bank, local businesses, the Amazon warehouse in Andover, local school lunch programs and from financial donations. Presiding officer Steve Chanin, himself a volunteer at First Parish, presented Jane with a check for $500 from the club to help overcome food insecurity in our community.