Salem Pantry Play Day Inspires Fight Against Food Insecurity

SALEM, MA — The Salem Pantry is hosting a free family fun day at Salem Willows on Saturday to help inspire more city residents to take steps to help fight food insecurity on the North Shore.

The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include free paddle board rentals from Coast to Coast Paddle, kayak rentals, lawn games and a visit from The Good Witch of Salem.

The event will also highlight Salem's participation in the "Ride for Food & Off The Beaten Path" challenge where participants can take part in a 25- or 50-mile bike ride out of Dedham in October, or create their own challenge to help support or raise money for food security.

"This is our second year participating in The Ride for Food & Off the Beaten Path, and we are looking for people who have a passion for food justice and building community," Salem Pantry Executive Director Robyn Burns said. "Last year, one of our wonderful volunteers created a successful paddle board challenge with Coast to Coast Paddle. We were inspired to grow this idea and the partnership became the inspiration for our first ever Pantry Play Day."

The Salem Pantry operates multiple programs - public mobile markets, home deliveries and provides bulk food access to partner organizations. The organization also serves as a distribution center, providing easier food access for other hunger-relief organizations across the North Shore.

"Our goal for the Play Day is to create a connecting, welcoming event to bring together pantry guests, volunteers, donors, community partners and more — to celebrate our shared work and explore exciting ways to support the ongoing effort to create more food security for all," Burns said.

Salem Pantry has distributed over 2 million pounds of food to more than 4,000 households and 12,000 unique individuals — with one in three recipients being children — throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)