Saturday, December 23, 2017


Happy Holidays to our members and friends!


We wish you the brightest of celebrations this holiday season and look forward to working with and for you all in the coming year! 




The Partnership office will be closed until Tuesday, January 2, 2018.

Friday, December 8, 2017

We Had a Jolly Good Time at the Holiday Stroll

It was a chilly and clear Thursday night and the crowds were out enjoying the 2017 Holiday Stroll in downtown Franklin!








The Stroll began with carolers and hot chocolates at the tree lighting ceremony of Dean College's campus. Families posed for photos in front of the tree strung with multicolored lights before strolling through downtown on their way to see Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Clara from the Nutcracker. Along the way they stopped to chat with business owners, warm up with a coffee, decorate some gingerbread cookies and sing some holiday songs. Those who didn't fill up on cookies and fried dough made a night of it and had dinner at one of the downtown restaurants. 





It was a great holiday party - thanks to our event organizers Roberta Trahan, Pandora Carlucci, Chris Peterson and Kevin Johnson

Thank you Dean College for hosting the tree lighting on your campus. The carolers were wonderful! 

Thanks to The Franklin Historical Museum for bringing Mrs. Claus to the Stroll, and thank you Simon's Furniture for hosting Santa and the FHS musicians. 

Thank you to our volunteers for setup and cleanup, to Bryan Taberner for creating the detailed map, and the Franklin Police for traffic duty. Thanks to the Franklin DPW for lighting the downtown and making it so festive! 

And, of course, thank you to our many generous sponsors who made the event possible. 

Gold sponsors Arcadia Dental, Jim Hanewich of Blue Hills Bank, Dean Bank, Dean College and Keefe Insurance.


Gingerbread cookie decorating at Dean Bank

Silver sponsors Atria - Franklin; Boston Solar; DCU; D.G. Ranieri Real Estate; Doherty, Ciechanowski, Dugan & Cannon, P.C.; Michael Dunsky of Draper & Kramer Mortgage Corp.; Franklin Ford; Middlesex Savings Bank; Nerds To Go; Real Living Real Estate; Rescom Exteriors; and Tom Fricker Heating & Air Conditioning. 









Bronze Sponsors Berry Insurance; Beaux Regards Photographic Art by Marjorie Sardella; Flynn-Wirkus-Young, P.C.; Franklin Central Pizza; Franklin Cultural District; Franklin Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass.; Franklin Historical Museum; Kumon Math & Reading Center - Franklin; MyFM 101.3; Rockland Trust; Simon's Furniture; and Vallee's Fine Jewelry.    




More photos are online on Facebook!



Thursday, December 7, 2017

2017 Holiday Stroll Brochure

Today's the day!

Download your copy of the 2017 Holiday Stroll brochure here, or pick it up at the tree lighting ceremony this afternoon.

It's a beautiful night - join us downtown for this event!






Friday, December 1, 2017

'12 Days of Donating' Campaign begins today!

What you need to know about the Franklin Food Elves and the '12 Days of Donating' campaign this holiday

Franklin Food Elves Change It Up!


This year the Franklin Food Elves "12 Days of Donating" Campaign marks 12 years of helping neighbors in need during the holiday season. The Elves are putting a new twist on this popular giving tradition with a shift in their collections for the Pantry. 

The Elves are changing it up to be a FUND ONLY drive. With dozens of food and fund drives underway, the Pantry is out of space to store the inventory. Monetary donations that are collected will be used to buy chicken, beef and other meats, dairy products, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruits.  Donations to the Food Elves Campaign can be made online here.

(l ti r) Julia Buccella and Natalie Dextradeur are the Co-Lead Food Elves for the 2017 Campaign. Photo courtesy of Patti Dextradeur.
According to Erin Lynch, the Pantry's Executive Director, "Our co
mmunity becomes very involved this time of year in collecting food for the Pantry. We are grateful for the incredible amount of food we receive. But, after the holidays, when end-of-year giving subsides and food drives are infrequent, monetary donations will help us through the lean months that follow."
"In addition, monetary gifts allow us to buy what we need when we need it.  Monetary support gives us the flexibility we need to provide for the more than 1,000 individuals who count on us.  We are also able to purchase food through the Greater Boston Food Bank for much less money than people pay in the grocery store."

Businesses getting in on the '12 Days' fun

Eight Franklin Downtown Partnership member businesses are participating in the annual campaign! Rather than food collection bins, these businesses will host the Food Pantry's "DIP JAR" at their locations. 

FDP member The Adirondack Club has generously donated to the Food Elves in lieu of hosting the DIP JAR.

Nerds To Go debuted the DIP JAR at a recent Chamber event, and Franklin Agway is hosting the jar today, December 1The Food Pantry will announce specific dates on it's Facebook and Instragram soon. 
  • Chestnut Dental, 38 Pond St.
  • Dean Bank, 15 Main St.
  • Franklin Agway, 157 Cottage St. -- December 1 -- Today!!
  • Hair Mania, 20 W. Central St.
  • Murphy Business, 15 E. Central St.
  • Nerds To Go Computer Service, 205 E. Central St.
  • Pour Richard's Wine & Spirits, 14 Grove St.
  • RE/MAX Executive Realty, 308 E. Central St.

Try out the DIP JAR at the Food Elves table at the Holiday Stroll's tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 7 at 4:30 p.m.


Want to sign up to host the DIP JAR? Email Erin Lynch at erin@franklinfoodpantry.org or Shelia Teixeira at sbketex@gmail.com.