The 9th Annual Pantry Plunge was one for the Record Books!  Big crowds!  High Energy! Blue Sky!  Tons of ice!  AND OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER TO DATE!  Over $40,000 was raised by over 80 brave plungers all to benefit the FBC Community Food Pantry.  Thank you to all who took part, whether as a volunteer, a donor or a PLUNGER!  It took each one of you together to  make this success possible.

10th Annual Pantry Plunge!

When: Saturday, December 12, 2026 at Noon
Where: Gallien’s Town Beach at Beaver Lake, 39 Pond Road, Derry, NH

Let’s make the Big #10 something to remember!  Mark your calendar as we strive to make Gallian’s Beach the site of an UNFORGETTABLE PLUNGE!  Think costumes!  Think event shirts!  Think more teams than ever!  Stay tuned for details as they develop!

This fundraiser for the FBC Community Food Pantry will take place on the second Saturday in December at high noon! Come as a solo or gather your friends, your family, and your co-workers and form a team! We remain committed to fighting hunger in our area. Join us and begin this Holiday Season by helping others have enough to eat; not just for the holidays but for the coming year.

Come one, come all to participate in the 10th Annual Pantry Plunge!
(Except dogs! The Town of Derry does not allow dogs at Gallien’s Beach!!)

On Saturday, December 12, 2026, we will be once again taking to the frigid waters of our own Beaver Lake (at Gallien’s Beach) to raise money for the FBC Community Food Pantry! The Food Pantry has been serving our community for over thirty years.  We anticipate unprecedented need this coming winter and hope YOU can help us meet these needs!

“How can I help make this event a big success?” you might ask … here’s how!

Form a Team of Your Own!

Step 1: Get a Donation Pledge Sheet & Waiver
Step 2: Show up on Plunge Day.
Step 3: Plunge! (Read our Advice)

Get your co-workers, your family, and your friends to join you! Offer everyone you know an opportunity to sponsor your Plunge. Bring your Pledge Sheet & Waiver (available here or on our Facebook page “Pantry Plunge”), your pledges, your warm, dry clothes, and your enthusiasm to Beaver Lake and change the world … and just maybe yourself! It will be the most unusual, reaffirming, moments of your holiday season. It does take courage … after all, a dip in the lake in December is a chilling experience! Those few moments of discomfort, however, can mean a lot – a WHOLE LOT – of food for those in need!

Become a sponsor!

If Taking the Plunge is not for you, please sponsor someone who is going in! A donation earmarked “Pantry Plunge” will help encourage other intrepid participants. We are working hard to raise as much money as we can, so that none of our neighbors will go hungry this year!

Best of all, it will provide the gift that keeps on giving.

Checks payable to:
FBC Community Food Pantry 
4 Crystal Avenue, Derry, NH. 03038

I would like to add that Phil Ferdinando was one such person responsible for the success of this and every Pantry Plunge.  Farmer Phil took part in the Plunge each of its 9 years.  In overall shorts and a Santa hat, he arrived at the beach each year with a smile on his face and envelope full of donations.  Cold water and ice were no stranger to this Farmer.   His steady presence and familiar voice each & every year were always one of the brightest parts of Plunge Day for me.  Phil passed on January 16, 2026, and my heart goes out to his family & his friends and the entire Town of Derry.  Thank you, Phil.  NF