One Small Idea Can Change a Community
BY ALYSSA QUACKENBUSH
When the Ahern family received an email last month that the volunteer meal packing day that they were planning on participating in was canceled, 14-year-old Ellie wanted to know if there was another way to help. After contacting the food pantry and learning that they were only accepting monetary donations at this time, Ellie suggested they do just that--get some money together from the neighborhood to donate to the food pantry.
Ellie’s mother, Patty, reached out to her neighborhood with the idea. The food pantry is a cause close to Patty’s heart as it was a resource that helped her greatly after her parents passed away when she was a child.
The Southport neighborhood has a history of helping each other out, so the Aherns hoped to gather $200 for the food pantry.
In just a week’s time, Southport’s residents had donated over $1,500.
What started with a simple suggestion by Ellie has since snowballed into a multi-neighborhood drive for the Marshfield Food Pantry that has amassed over $31,000 in donations.
Acres, Arrowhead/Hampstead, Blackmount, Calypso Lane, Carolina Trail, Congress, Eagles Nest, Evergreen Hills, Holly Hill, Kent Park, Maryland Street, Pinehurst, Statesmen/Orchard Rd, Strawberry Farm, Tilden/Flames/Woodhaven, Woodland Hills, and Woodlawn have all joined Southport in the drive. The competition is expanding even beyond Marshfield as people from surrounding towns have begun to contact Patty with plans to bring the idea to their own neighborhoods.
These donations are a testament to not only the generosity of our neighbors but for the care we have for strangers. Patty is incredibly grateful for Southport for always stepping up for each other and doing so with fervor. She recalls that over half of the initial donations were from people in the neighborhood that she didn’t know, and the willingness of these people to give their money to a stranger to help more strangers was inspiring.
The Aherns’ efforts have served as a beautiful reminder that no action is too small--anything that comes from the goodness of your heart is bound to ripple into something so much bigger.
Ellie and Patty Ahern of Marshfield.