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Happy Leap Year folks! Leap years and leap days are necessary to keep our calendar in sync with the seasons. The calendar year is determined by the amount of time it takes the earth to orbit around the sun, which is approximately 365 and a quarter days. Roman general Julius Caesar, the “Father of Leap Year”, implemented the simple rule that years divisible by four would be a leap year. Eventually it was discovered that if we had a leap day every 4 years, then after 400 years, we'd be off by about 3 days. So the leap year calculation was refined to eliminate 3 leap years. The rule is that a year is considered a leap year if it is divisible by four, except for years that are divisible by 100. However, if a year is divisible by 400, then it is still considered a leap year. So the years 2100, 2200, and 2300 won't be leap years. And why is it called “leap year”? Well, a common year is 52 weeks and 1 day long. That means that if your birthday were to occur on a Monday one year, the next year it should occur on a Tuesday. However, the addition of an extra day during a leap year means that your birthday now “leaps” over a day. After all that math, let us all leap for joy because Spring is a day earlier this year, March 19th!
Donna
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SKIP STARTS LUNCH DELIVERIES | |
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SKIP launched a pilot program this year to deliver lunches to a few residents of the Maushope Housing community. Many of our neighbors at Maushope are not able to travel to SKIP, so we are taking SKIP to them! Currently we are delivering meals on Thursdays, and will continue to do so until our season is over at the end of April. Several SKIP volunteers have signed up to do these deliveries, which includes having a CORI check for safety of all involved. The SKIP board will assess the program at the end of the season and see how successful it was.
On a recent Thursday, our delivery team came back to the kitchen with a hand written thank you note from one of the lunch recipients. She was so grateful for the delicious food, but even more, the connection with a SKIP volunteer and seeing a friendly face. It made our day at SKIP, and isn’t that what we are all about: food, community and companionship.
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SKIP kicked off its 2023-2024 season with a lunch visit from Nancy and Chris, the Cape and Islands leaders of Lasagna Love. Lasagna Love is a global non-profit that operates by matching requests for monthly home cooked meals with volunteers who are available to cook and deliver the meals. Nancy and Chris shared details of the program and provided how to be part of the meal program, how to nominate someone, and even how to volunteer to make meals. More information is available at www.lasagnalove.org or email Board member Robert or call the SKIP office at 508-487-8331. | |
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCE
SKIP celebrated volunteer Bruce Mason’s 88th birthday on January 26th. Having volunteered at SKIP for 14 years, Bruce’s smiles and warm hugs always make our days.
This octogenarian is quoted as saying “I have found that in giving back, which I want to do, I always end up receiving far more than I ever gave in the first place. It is like a miracle.”
Thank you Bruce for your volunteerism, you are indeed our miracle.
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SKIP VOLUNTEER NEEDS YOUR HELP | |
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Volunteer Don James is fighting stage 5, end-of-life renal disease and needs a kidney transplant. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with his expenses. He says,"I am officially listed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) kidney transplant waiting list at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. I'm trying to hang in there and am doing the very best that I can. Problem is that the wait is six years. It's doubtful I will live long enough so I need a living donor as soon as possible,"
Please contribute to his GoFundMe page:
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MEET MOLLY FAULK
SKIP NURSE
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Volunteer Molly Faulk is now doing health monitoring for SKIP. Twice a month, she does blood pressure screenings, keeps a confidential record of your results, and answers your general health questions. With many years of experience as a registered nurse she is well qualified for the job. Although she usually comes the first and third Tuesday of each month, she will be coming the second and third Tuesday of March and April due to other commitments. She’ll be at SKIP on March 12 and 19, and April 9 and 16 from 12 Noon to 1:00 pm | |
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March 12 Health Monitoring by Nurse Molly
March 14 Saint Patrick’s Day Lunch
March 19 Health Monitoring by Nurse Molly
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Homeless Prevention Council
The Homeless Prevention Council has office hours in Provincetown from 10 - 2 Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday at the Provincetown United Methodist Church. For more information, please refer to their website. www.hpccapecod.org/provincetown-community-support
Crop Swap
Crop Swap is Ptown’s source for fresh, uncut fruits and vegetables and is open year round. Sponsored by the Ptown Health Department, the Ptown Public Library and SKIP, anyone may donate fresh fruits and vegetables, and all are welcome to take what they need. All fruits and vegetables are free. Please bring your own bag.
Crop Swap is located in the Ptown Library, 356 Commercial Street, to the left as you enter the front doors. Hours are:
Mondays & Fridays: 10-4:30
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays: 10 - 7:30
Saturdays & Sundays: 1 - 4:30
There is a refrigerator for perishable items and shelves with bins for non-perishables, such as potatoes and squash. Be sure to take advantage of this valuable resource.
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CHARLES ROGERS, 1949-2024 | |
Charles Rogers, 75, owner of Conwell Hardware, passed away on February 8, 2024. He was a Ptown native, having graduated from Ptown High School in 1966. He attended Clark University and UMass Amherst, where he earned a B.S. in geology. Charlie had a series of jobs in Ptown. He worked as a land surveyor, as bouncer at the Governor Bradford, and owned his own shop (Pilgrim Variety @ 322 Commercial Street) for a while. He became a title examiner in 1985 and spent 30 years in this profession. Charlie served on many Ptown boards, including planning board, zoning board of appeals and select board. In 1989 he purchased Provincetown Lumber and renamed it as Conwell Hardware.
Charlie liked to cook and serve exotic food to his friends at parties. He enjoyed genealogy and family history and was a proud 13th-generation descendant of Thomas Rogers, one of the Pilgrims who signed the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor in 1620. Charlie also enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Having been diagnosed with cancer in 2005, he was given a year to live. He outlived that prediction by 18 years!
Charlie asked that donations could be made in his name to the SKIP or to the Shriners Children’s Hospital.
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KEEPING UP WITH SKIP BOARD
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What do you do when on vacation in Maui? Board member Peter Maye and husband John spent 8 days over a period of two weeks volunteering for Hungry Heroes Hawaii Maui (HHHMaui). The organization started the Maui operations when Covid started, and lost their building in the Maui fire on August 8, 2023. Hua Momona Farms, an organic farm that provides a wide variety of vegetables to local restaurants, allowed HHHMaui to operate from their location. A large tent was constructed. The Farm already had two tractor trailers for special events; one with an industrial sized kitchen, and the other with a refrigerator the length of the trailer.
Volunteers prepare cabbage, beans, carrots and zucchini to name a few. All organic scraps are dumped in compost bins on the farm. In addition to food preparation, John and Peter also had dishwashing duties several times during their stay. “Washing giant pots in a mini sink in a trailer was quite the challenge!” stated Peter. The couple also worked the farm harvesting kale and pulling carrots out of the very hard red dirt. It was a laborious job, and Peter said that the “ farm workers sure earn the little money they get!”
HHHMaui just served their 31,000 meals when the couple was there. All meals are delivered by a team of volunteer drivers. They deliver to homes, hotels ( displaced families from the fire have no kitchen), tents, street corners, anywhere. There is no paperwork to fill out, no vetting and no questions to get meals, just like SKIP. People go to HHHMaui website and add their address to the list. Folks living in tents leave their phone number and some general location and the driver will call when they are there.
Peter and John were blown away by all the amazing volunteers and loved every minute of their “vacation”!
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SKIP Boardmembers Libby Cressey and Mark Björstrom had a table at the March 9th Provincetown Year Rounders Festival at Town Hall. The event was very well attended and had a hall full of local artists, Town committees and non-profits. At the SKIP table, they handed out brochures and answered questions about our services, and donation/volunteer opportunities. Plus, we had a raffle for SKIP aprons and signed folks up for our mailing database and email distribution list. Many local dignitaries stopped by our table, including the Town Manager, Asst. Town Manager, Select Board Members, Town Moderator, State Rep. Sarah Peake, and many of our SKIP guests. It was a great day with a very positive and important presence for SKIP. | |
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PHIL FRANCHINI, Chairperson
MARK BJORSTROM, Vice Chair, Treas.
DONNA REARDON, Editor
MARY ASHLEY, Asst. Editor
LIBBY CRESSEY
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MARTHA FAGAN
PETER MAYE
ROGER SECOURS
ERIC CORDES
ROBERT SWEETMAN
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GINA LARKIN, Executive Chef| PAULO SALVADOR, Office Coordinator
DIDIER CORALLO, Dishwasher/Utility Person
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SKIP Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 10-2/Phone: 508.487.8331 | | | | |
