Interfaith Social Services seeking reusable bag donations for food pantry

QUINCY, Mass. (Jan. 24, 2020) – Interfaith Social Services is seeking donations of reusable bags for use in their food pantry.

“When we learned of Quincy’s upcoming single-use plastic bag ban, we immediately started conversations in our food pantry,” said Rick Doane, Interfaith’s Executive Director. “We distribute more than 50,000 bags of groceries each year, and that adds up to a lot of plastic and paper bags.”

Interfaith Social Services provides a safety net for South Shore families that need food, housing assistance or mental health counseling. Interfaith’s food pantry distributes more than 700,000 pounds of food each year.

“Since the Fall, we’ve been encouraging our food pantry clients to bring reusable bags on each visit,” said Doane. “We hope that as more and more towns ban plastic bags, people will become accustomed to using reusable bags everywhere they go. Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds to purchase reusable bags for our clients, so we hope that local business and organizations will consider donating their extra promotional bags so that we can go plastic and paper bag free in our pantry.”

Businesses and individuals are encouraged to donate bags during Interfaith’s business hours, Monday-Friday, 9am-3:30pm and until 7pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Smaller amounts of bags can be delivered off-hours to the donation bin around back of the building, at 105 Adams St. in Quincy.

Questions about the food pantry? Contact Executive Director Rick Doane at [email protected] or 617-773-6203 ext. 17.