Touching People In Need for Decades

Joan Haas has been one of the most active volunteers at TAP-IN for more than 20 years.

Joan Haas of Barrington has been touching people in need for 30 years. Haas and her husband, Jim, moved to Barrington from Pennsylvania in 1972. She got involved as a volunteer in the schools, especially the PTA/PTO, almost immediately. “I guess I get it from my mom,” Haas said. “She was a super volunteer.” Haas has definitely followed in her mother’s footsteps. For the past couple of decades, her volunteerism has focused primarily on TAP-IN – the social service agency based in Barrington that serves the East Bay towns. But she also serves on the board of the East Bay Coalition for the Homeless. "That's board work," she said. If you want to get a true picture of her, you need to go to TAP-IN, usually on a Tuesday. That’s been her regular …

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Volunteers Give Service to TAP-IN

The volunteers participated in the National Day of Service as part of the Presidential Inauguration celebration.

Last Saturday was a National Day of Service as part of the Presidential Inauguration Committee's plan for President Obama's second inauguration on Monday, Jan. 21. Volunteers from Barrington restocked the food pantry shelves at TAP-IN and collected other donations from 8 am to noon, according to Anne Connor, a local organizer.

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Bus Stuffed With School Supplies

Abundant Life Assembly of God Church campaign brings in almost 7,000 individual items for TAP-IN in Barrington and its 400 clients.

The bus was stuffed with school supplies on Sunday. Almost 7,000 individual school supplies were loaded on an Ocean State Transit school bus parked at Abundant Life Assembly of God church on the Barrington/Swansea line. Loading the supplies started at 1 pm after a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. It ended the “Stuff the Bus” campaign to benefit TAP-IN (Touch a Person In Need) in Barrington and the nonprofit’s 400 clients all over the East Bay. “We stuffed the bus, believe it or not,” said Jessica Rook, who led the campaign for the church. The exact number of school supplies was 6,937 individual items, she said, including 180 backpacks. “We had a great turnout of volunteers,” Rook said. “It was pretty cool. We stuffed the bus with a fire line…

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Stuffing Bus With School Supplies

Abundant Life Assembly of God church is collecting school supplies for families served by TAP-IN of Barrington.

Abundant Life church is stuffing a bus with school supplies for children of Barrington’s TAP-IN clients all over the East Bay – approximately 400 families. “Our goal is literally to stuff the bus with school supplies on Aug. 19,” said Jessica Rook of Barrington, who is spearheading the back-to-school campaign for the New Meadow Road church on the Barrington-Swansea line. Between today and Aug. 18, Rook said, the church is asking local people and businesses to donate supplies for kids who need some help. The church also has joined forces with TD Bank, which is giving out bags for the school supplies, and Ocean State Transit, which has parked a school bus in front of the church that will be stuffed on Sunday, Aug. 19, from 1 to 3 pm. “Some …

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Library Reads Summer Need for Food

The Barrington Public Library will be taking donations of food -- especially the Big 5 -- during the month of August for TAP-IN.

The Barrington library food drive for TAP-IN is back. "In a repeat of last year’s successful program," said Debbi Barchi, library director, "Barrington library is partnering with TAP-IN to collect food donations in the library for the month of August." Of special interest, she said, are “the big five” -- canned tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, chicken noodle soup and canned beans, all sources of protein. Although donations to food banks are strong during the winter months, donations drop dramatically in the summer, said Barchi. The library collection will help fill in the gaps for the TAP-IN food bank this summer. Clearly marked boxes for food donations will be found on the first and second floor of the library in August, she said. …

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Book, Plant Sale Saturday at Library

Friends of the Barrington Library and Barrington Garden Club offering all kinds of books and flowers for sale.

The Friends of Barrington Library are holding a book sale on Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm in the book-sorting room in the lower level of the library. Fiction, non-fiction and collectable books will be included in the sale. Admission is free.  Enter through the double doors on the County Road side of the Library/Peck Center, also known as the entrance to TAP-IN.  You can also stock up on plants while grabbing some new books to read. For the first time this year, the sale is coinciding with the annual spring plant sale of the Barrington Garden Club.  For more information, contact the library at 247-1920, ext. 305.

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Carriers to Deliver Mail, Pick Up Food

Saturday is the annual 'Stamp Out Hunger' food drive to benefit the RI Community Food Bank, which provides food to TAP-IN in Barrington.

Letter carriers will deliver your mail on Saturday and hope to pick up your donation to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank at the same time. The postal workers will join forces in the country’s largest single-day food drive, “Stamp Out Hunger.” It’s a cooperative effort of the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers. All of the food collected in RI will be donated to the Food Bank. The donations will help to feed more than 60,000 people who depend on the Food Bank’s statewide network of emergency food programs to meet their basic needs – such as TAP-IN in Barrington, which services people all over the East Bay as well. “Children, seniors and families struggling to get back on their feet are really depending on…

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'Crisis Cash' Earmarked for Barrington

The Town Council approves a request for $10,000 from the nonprofit East Bay Community Action Program that targets Barrington residents facing a crisis from loss of income.

Anyone from Barrington who faces a “family crisis” got some help from the Town Council Monday night, Feb. 6. The councilors unanimously approved a request for $10,000 earmarked only for Barrington residents from Dennis Roy, the CEO of the East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP). EBCAP is a nonprofit that offers health and human services to East Bay residents from its Riverside offices. The money is being allocated from the Spencer Trust, managed by the Housing Board of Trustees with approval of the Town Council. The Housing Board approved Roy’s request several weeks ago. Roy said EBCAP will receive referrals for cash from the Barrington Coalition of Community Services. Coalition members include TAP-IN, Heartworks, East Bay Center Inc., …

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Housing Board OKs Cash for Crises

Housing Board of Trustees approves a request for $10,000 from the East Bay Community Action Program for Barrington families facing crises.

Barrington residents who need some assistance because of a family crisis got some help Tuesday night, Jan. 17, from the Housing Board of Trustees. The board unanimously approved a request for $10,000 from the East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) specifically for Barrington residents. EBCAP is a nonprofit that offers a variety of health and human services to East Bay communities from its Riverside offices. The money will come from the Spencer Trust, operated by the town for this type of assistance. The Housing Board manages the proceeds from the trust with the approval of the Town Council. Dennis Roy, CEO of EBCAP, made the request in person. He said the nonprofit will “coordinate this effort with the Barrington Coalition of Community …

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Letter to the Editor

TAP-IN Gives Great Big Thanks

TAP-IN (Touch a Person In Need) says thank you to all the East Bay residents, schools, businesses, churches and organizations that support the Barrington-based agency.

Many thanks from TAP-IN for the wonderful support we received from the residents, schools, businesses, places of worship and organizations of the East Bay Community.  This year more than 450 families received food and grocery gift cards thanks to your generosity.  More than 20 schools and places of worship supplied us with food for our Thanksgiving packages. During the past year, TAP-IN has provided food for nearly 500 families every month.  The need for TAP-IN services has never been greater and the response from our community has been outstanding. In the weeks before Thanksgiving, food filled our pantry along with turkey pans, cash contributions, grocery gift cards and homemade pumpkin bread.  Special thanks to the many students, …

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