Dear friend of the Jonnycake Center of Westerly, 

With the constantly-evolving landscape facing our organization, we want to provide updates about current Jonnycake operations, policies, and procedures.

Thanks to your support, we weathered the uncertainty of spring 2020, and succeeded in our most essential function: to provide services to ensure that our neighbors in need have enough food, and that their basic needs continue be met. As Rhode Island carefully pursues its reopening plan, Jonnycake Social Services and the Thrift Store are following suit, reestablishing the services and community resources that our neighbors rely on.

Our Thrift Store, the leading fundraising driver of the organization, reopened to the public in May 2020, and since then, we have expanded the Store's hours and offered shoppers an increasing number of donation opportunities. In early July 2020, the Food Pantry once again began accepting food donations following a temporary suspension during the spring months. Find more details, including how to donate, in the policy update below.

Like many, we greatly anticipate the day when we can resume full operations at the Jonnycake Center of Westerly. We are enormously grateful for our friends and neighbors who have contributed financially, and/or have complied with our new building health and sanitation policies. Your support has made a world a difference, and has enabled us to keep our doors open amid a very trying time.

Please let me or the Jonnycake staff know if there is anything we can do to assist you in the road ahead. With you by our side, we continue #SustainingCommunityTogether!

Lee Eastbourne
Executive Director
Jonnycake Center of Westerly
Food Pantry:
  • The Food Pantry is operating on a modified service model. If you are in need of food supplies, please call (401) 377-8069 and select Option 1.
  • Food Donations are accepted by pre-scheduled appointment. Please email FoodDonations@jonnycake.org and use the subject line "Food Donation" to reserve a dropoff time.
  • SPLASH (Summer Program Looking to Alleviate Student Hunger) weekly meal packs are available from our Pantry for school-age kids in need. Each kit contains a week's worth of healthy, delicious breakfast and lunch supplies. Please call Social Services at (401) 377-8069 and select Option 1, or email Sarah Cote, Social Services Program Director, at scote@jonnycake.org to learn more and sign up.
  • The Pantry is open Monday afternoons (12pm to 3pm) and mornings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (9am to 12pm).
  • "Grab and Go" meal kits for students are available in the public public parking lot across from the Jonnycake Center of Westerly from 12pm to 1pm Mondays through Fridays. These meals are provided by Westerly Public Schools.
Social Services:
  • The Social Services office continues to be available to serve community members in need. Most services are offered remotely, but some on-site services are temporarily suspended.
  • A staff person is available via phone during all open hours to provide resources or answer questions. Call (401) 377-8069 and select Option 1.
  • Clients arriving for the Food Pantry or SPLASH check-ins, or receiving Vouchers for the Thrift Store, can visit the Social Services office during open hours for assistance.
  • If you are new to our services, or are in need of financial assistance, please contact Sarah Cote, Social Services Program Director, at (401) 377-8069 #110 or scote@jonnycake.org.
  • The Social Services office is currently open Monday afternoons (12pm to 3pm) and mornings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (9am to 12pm).
Thrift Store:
  • To protect the Food Pantry and the safety of shoppers, volunteers, and staff, new Thrift Store shopping policies are in place.
  • Store hours are:
  • Tuesdays: 11am to 4pm
  • Wednesdays: 12pm to 4pm
  • Thursdays: 9am to 4pm
  • Fridays: 12pm to 4pm
  • Saturdays: 9am to 4pm
  • Senior shopping hours are on Tuesday mornings from 9am to 11am
  • The last Store entry will be at 3:30pm daily
  • With the likelihood of lines outside our building, and to avoid confusion in exiting, we suggest shoppers park in the public parking lot across Industrial Drive from Jonnycake. Shoppers are not allowed to enter or exit through our donation processing area.
  • A limited number of shoppers are allowed in the Jonnycake Center of Westerly’s Thrift Store at one time. This number includes children and everyone in your party. We request that shopping trips are made solo, or with only one other person. If the store is full, arriving shoppers will be asked to wait outside.
  • To gain entry to our building, everybody must wear a face mask. Zero exceptions can be given for this policy.
  • If you cannot wear a face mask, please contact us and we will offer other alternatives to connect you with our Store's treasures.
  • Jonnycake staff will greet you at the door to take your forehead temperature and ask a few questions about your recent health and risk factors. Answering these questions is essential to protecting our on-site Food Pantry, as well as the health of fellow shoppers, volunteers, and Jonnycake staff.
  • Please follow the one-way arrows in our aisles and maintain 6-foot social distancing spacing when shopping.
  • We are following all mandates to keep our store sufficiently staffed and thoroughly sanitized.
  • We appreciate your patience during this time. Our new Thrift policies have been put in place out of an abundance of caution to protect everybody in our building and to safeguard our Food Pantry. Shoppers who do not follow our guidelines may be asked to leave and return another time.
  • All Thrift proceeds directly support our Food Pantry and Social Services basic needs efforts.
Thrift Donations:
  • Thrift Donations temporarily remain available by appointment only. To schedule a donation, please email ThriftDonations@jonnycake.org.
  • Furniture is accepted for pickup on a very limited basis from the Jonnycake delivery truck. To schedule an appointment, email ThriftDonations@jonnycake.org with the subject line “Furniture pickup.”
  • Unscheduled or unapproved dropoffs ("dumping") are a health hazard and are therefore temporarily suspended. Persons caught dumping at Jonnycake will be prosecuted. We hope to reimplement open donations as soon as possible.
Volunteering:
  • To limit the number of people in our building, many volunteering opportunities have unfortunately been temporarily suspended. To be added to the volunteering interest waitlist, please email volunteer@jonnycake.org.
Events:
  • The Jonnycake Center of Westerly is following mandates limiting the number of people who can gather at one time. As a result, we have had to postpone most of our public event fundraising initiatives for 2020.
  • Visit our website jonnycake.org often. and make sure you follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for when we announce alternative means of hosting fundraising events.
Giving:
  • From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each and every donor who has supported us financially through this critical time. Your contributions enabled us to keep feeding children and neighbors, and helped us continue to care for the most vulnerable in our service area. We could not do what we do without your support.
  • For a list of some of the agencies and businesses who have supported Jonnycake, please visit jonnycake.org/news.
As always, thank you for your unwavering support of the Center as we navigate these unfamiliar times. We are doing our utmost to continue serving and feeding our community.
With great appreciation,
The Jonnycake Center of Westerly
Social Services | Food Pantry | Thrift Store
23 Industrial Drive, Westerly, RI 02891
(401) 377-8069