Poetry Open Mic to Benefit St. Paul's Church Food Pantry

The little free pantry in front of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 294 Main Street South, Woodbury, has become a key source of food for some area residents. To support this vital resource the church provides, Woodbury Poet Laureate Katie Baker and Orenaug Mountain Publishing are hosting a Bards Against Hunger poetry open mic on Tuesday, November 11, at 6 p.m. Readers and their guests are invited to bring non-perishable food donations to help stock the cabinet. [RSVP]

“The food pantry has become an amazing outreach mission. Run in cooperation with the Woodbury Food Bank, it is available anytime of the day or night,” said long-time church member Betty Lou Bowles, who along with her husband, Peter, frequently refills the cabinet. “Parishioners restock the pantry several times a week, so the Bards Against Hunger event will be a great help. Getting together for a poetry open mic is fun in itself, but combining that with support for an initiative like the little free pantry makes it that much more special.”

Among the items needed, are many of the most popular, including:

• whole grain cereals
• sugar free and regular jam or jelly
• instant oatmeal packets
• canned tuna, spam, chicken, and other meats
• canned vegetables, including low sodium and all kinds of beans,
• flavored rice and pasta packets
• ramen noodles
• juice boxes and bottles

Baker, who hosts a monthly open mic at Woodbury Public Library on the second Wednesday of the month, said, “People don’t have to bring a donation in order to participate as a reader, but we’re hoping everyone does. We changed the library’s open mic to Tuesday for November, deciding to host the event at the church so the donations will be right where they need to be at the end of the night.”

The theme for the month is heritage. Participants will have about five minutes each to read. Poets do not have to stick to the theme, but a food donation is required to participate in the open mic.

RSVP here

“Poetry brings people together and builds community because we come face to face with others’ humanity through our words,” said Sandy Lee Carlson, poet laureate emerita of Woodbury and a managing partner at Orenaug Mountain Publishing. “Bards Against Hunger is a great way for us as a company, and for area poets, to lend a hand to those in our community who could use a bit of a boost.”

About Bards Against Hunger
The Bards Initiative, a poetry group on Long Island, New York, established Bards Against Hunger, an initiative that would gather food for the hungry around Thanksgiving time as a way for poets to give back to their local community. Several events have been in several states, and on Long Island, where the initiative has provided resources for more than 10,000 meals.

About Katie Baker
Katie Baker, a library worker and an avid public servant, is Woodbury’s third poet laureate, serving from the fall of 2024 to the fall of 2027. As an artist and poet, Katie lives to create in all aspects of life and brings her love of art to any work she does. Katie’s muse is nature, which is where she usually finds time and space to paint, draw, sculpt, take photos, or write poetry.”

About Orenaug Mountain Publishing (OMP)
It is the vision of Orenaug Mountain Publishing (www.orenaugmountainpublishing.com) to be a beacon for poetic expression and to create a platform for poets to share their work with the world. We seek to champion the art of poetry by writers around the world by publishing high-quality work that challenges, inspires, and connects readers to the human experience. We do this through several themed anthology projects a year and via the online Orenaug Mountain Poetry Journal at www.orenaugmountainpoetry.net.