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Knights seek cash donations to support PJB food pantry

The Hopkinton Food Pantry at Project Just Because helps area families who are in need of assistance.

The local Knights of Columbus council is looking for community support as it starts up its annual Food For Families Food Drive this month.

The drive, which kicked off Saturday, continues through March 22. Over the course of the next few weeks, those who wish to help are asked to donate money to support the Hopkinton Food Pantry at Project Just Because. These monetary donations are combined with food the Knights of Columbus Bishop Rice Council collects at its affiliated churches, explained Knights member Jim Kenealy.

The Knights’ food drive historically was confined to just the parishes of St. John the Evangelist in Hopkinton and St. Cecilia in Ashland, according to Kenealy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization decided it wanted to expand its program into an online drive that would fund area pantries.

Given a strong response to the program, the Knights decided to continue it as things reopened. Last year, the program collected $1,750 in checks and online donations and took in over a ton of food and supplies from the parishes.

All donations go to help the pantry — located on South Street — in its mission to feed local families. “With rising gas prices, rising grocery costs … families are struggling,” Kenealy noted.

A consumer price tracker compiled by CBS News shows that grocery prices have risen 19.1% since January 2022. The PJB food pantry supports about 950 families each week, and the organization has reported in recent months that the need is growing. Increased food insecurity locally and across the region has led the Health Department to look at ways to help the roughly 200 Hopkinton residents who rely on food pantries to get food on the table.

Kenealy said getting money to the food pantry has a strong impact — sometimes more effective than just food donations. “With cash, they can go out and buy what they really need,” he noted.

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Photo of the Day

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PHOTO/HOPKINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT