PIES FOR PEOPLE SEEKS VOLUNTEERS

Pies for People, a loose but dedicated cadre of nonprofit organizations, businesses, and volunteers, will bake 113 pies made of gleaned squash and donated ingredients a few days before Thanksgiving. Volunteers interested in helping roll out pie crusts on the evening of November 21 for this effort are asked to contact the Center for an Agricultural Economy's (CAE) community programs manager Bethany M. Dunbar of Julian Sharp at Sterling College to sign up.

This is the eleventh year of the project, which is a combined effort of CAE, Sterling College, and the Hardwick Area Food Pantry (HAFP). The goal is that everyone who wants a homemade pie for Thanksgiving should be able to enjoy one. Pies go to holiday boxes given out at the pantry, two free community dinners, senior housing, a preschool and a handful of direct home deliveries.

By the time this year's project is completed, Pies for People will have made more than 1,200 homemade pumpkin and squash pies over 11 years.

The 300 pounds of butternut squash needed for the pies are donated by High Mowing Organic Seeds. CAE staff have washed, roasted, peeled and processed it all and made it into buckets of beautiful orange puree. Butter was donated by Cabot Creamery Cooperative; eggs were donated by Black Dirt Farm; spices were donated by Buffalo Mountain Cooperative. Other donations are still coming in and will be acknowledged on labels on each pie box.

On the evening of November 21, it will all come together at Sterling College where volunteers are invited to join Sterling staff and community members to roll out 113 pie crusts. The day before the crust rolling, Sterling staff and students will make the filling and create balls of pie crust dough ready to be rolled out. Half the pies will be baked that evening. The other half will be baked at the CAE kitchens over the weekend. Volunteers on November 21 will receive coffee, dessert, lots of practice rolling crust, and that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with doing a good deed! Please plan to BYOP that evening (Bring Your Own Pin) if you have one. Contact Ms. Dunbar at bethany@hardwickagriculture.org or Mr. Sharp at jsharp@sterlingcollege.edu if you'd like to volunteer.