Video sample: Dighton-Rehoboth Opens Falcons Fueling Families Pantry

NORTH DIGHTON, Mass. — The Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District celebrated the opening of Falcons Fueling Families, a food pantry based at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School that will support students and families across Dighton and Rehoboth.

The pantry is designed to help families facing food insecurity, particularly when long weekends and school vacations interrupt access to school meals.

“Days without school shouldn’t mean days without food,” Superintendent Bill Runey said at Tuesday’s ribbon cutting. He emphasized that a school district serves the entire community as well as its children. “Our responsibility extends beyond academics and beyond the walls of our classrooms. We are one District, serving two communities, and we take care of one another.”

Runey placed the pantry within the two towns’ long tradition of neighbors helping neighbors, recognizing the work of the Rehoboth Has a Heart Foundation, the Blizzard of Giving, the Dighton Lions Club, and other community organizations. He also noted the District’s school-based giving efforts, Holiday DReams, Thanksgiving baskets through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and backpacks provided through the Greater Attleboro Area Council for Children.

A District team led by Michele Blackburn, Colleen Pais, and Renee Moorby worked with Runey and community partners to bring the pantry to life. Runey also thanked Damien Preston and Leo Brehm for preparing its site.

Sterling Container Sales provided the container that houses the pantry. Its owners, DRRHS graduate Lindsay White Bates and her husband, Aaron Bates, stepped forward after Blackburn reached out to businesses across southeastern Massachusetts for help.

“There is something pretty special about a former Falcon coming back to help today’s Falcons take care of one another,” Runey said.

The District also thanked Whitsons Culinary Group, Signs By Tomorrow, Hannaford Supermarkets, and Blount Fine Foods for their support. Dennis Gomez, Whitsons’ Regional Vice President of Operations, and Joe Armenti, its District Manager, joined the celebration.

The ribbon cutting brought together Senator Kelly Dooner; Representatives Justin Thurber and Steven Howitt; School Committee members Joseph Luca, Lori Lesniak, Donna Berdos, and Karen DaSilva; Selectmen George Solas, Rob Johnson, and David Pereira; and Rehoboth Town Administrator Sue Pimental.

Runey described the pantry as the District’s DRiving Toward 2030 vision and its commitment to community engagement put into action. “Today isn’t really about cutting a ribbon or opening a pantry,” he said. “It’s about making sure that when one of our families needs a little help, they know their school community is there for them; quietly, respectfully, and with dignity. That is the essence of the words we live by: Together, we are DR!”

To receive support from the Pantry or to donate, email Pantry@drregional.org.