May 8, 2025

Susan Zwart, Director of Thrift Operations, The Open Door & Second Glance

2024 by the Numbers

• 2.35 million Pounds of Food
• 11,893 People Served (5,320 Households)
• 164,859 Meals Prepared In-house
• 316,969 Items Sold
• 140+ Tons of Recycled Materials
• 26,260 Volunteer Hours
• Click to see more!

The Open Door was started during the blizzard of 1978 to make sure people had food during the blizzard and has been feeding people and changing lives for four decades. Second Glance began as a little closet and now encompasses most of the plaza at Pond Road.

The mission of The Open Door is to alleviate the impact of hunger in our community. They use practical strategies to connect people to good food, to advocate on behalf of those in need, and to engage others in the work of building food security. If you’d like to help feed the hungry on Cape Ann, there are many ways you can help.

• Donate money, food, clothing or household items (money made from sales of items goes back into helping feed people)
• Volunteer your time
• Organize a food drive or collection site
• Sponsor Community Meals
• Donate in-kind goods & services
• Donate holiday baskets or specialty baskets

Connect

• https://foodpantry.org/
• https://www.facebook.com/TheOpenDoorMA/
• https://www.instagram.com/theopendoorma/
• https://twitter.com/TheOpenDoorMA
• https://www.facebook.com/SecondGlanceThriftStore

Cape Ann Conversations podcasts will be published on the following channels:

Cape Ann Conversations is a weekly podcast with new episodes posted weekly on Thursdays.

• Audio Only: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, I Heart Radio, and Amazon Music.
• Video: YouTube and Facebook.

Credits:

• Host: Troy Scarbrough, Best Vending Solutions
• Powered by Streamography Productions
• Produced by Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce