ANDOVER — There will be something for everyone attending Andover’s May Fair on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Andover Congregational Church, organizers say.

There will be more attractions than ever, said co-coordinator Sharon Hutchins, one of the May Fair founders. Among them are a huge food sale, artisans selling crafts, art work for sale, a white elephant sale, books, a book-signing by author Angelo Kaltsos and free coffee for all, she said.

All proceeds will support Andover’s Hungry Kingdom Food Pantry, which ensures that all 31 students at the Andover Elementary School receive a hot breakfast, snack, milk and a hot lunch each school day.

“We have raised over $20,000 for the kids since we began the Hungry Kingdom Food Pantry with a bottle drive three years ago,” said Hutchins, who works in the Andover Elementary School as a custodian and bus driver.

The inspiration for the Hungry Kingdom Food Pantry began, according to Hutchins, when she and three friends and fellow Congregational Church members, Philena Chaisson, Beverly Swan and Sandy Savage, took the proceeds from a bottle drive and began paying it forward. The charitable campaign consisted of giving each participating member a $20 bill to go out and use the money to do good deeds.

The four friends, seeing a need to provide free hot meals to the school students, combined their individual $20 charitable allotments to send out letters soliciting donations to sponsor meals at school. By the following September the group had raised enough money to provide free hot breakfasts and lunches for all 37 students.

Should the Andover school close in June and students move to Crescent Park Elementary School in Bethel, they will be guaranteed free hot breakfasts and hot lunches by the Hungry Kingdom Food Pantry volunteers, Hutchins said.

dfayen@sunjournal.com

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