Food, shelter, and crisis resources on Boston's South Shore
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry
News articles about how your donations help.
Rockland Mariner - 10/26/00
Abington Mariner - 12/07/00
October 26, 2000 - Rockland Mariner
Housed in the basement of a local church, St. Vincent's collects
everything from canned goods to meat, bread, fresh vegetables, cereals and
even ice cream, stacked on shelves for their visitors to walk the aisles and
take items of their choice. While there is a limit to how much one family
can take, volunteer Leslie "Red" Greenleaf said "no one goes
away hungry."
"Our job is serving the poor," Greenleaf said. "People we helped years ago never forget us and come back to help."
Started 15 years ago, founders Bob and Mary Johnson of 162 Rockland St., guarded their small wooden chest stocked with about 20 canned goods under lock and key. Today, the pantry has 17 freezers, six refrigerators and boxes filled with every food imaginable stored right to the ceiling.
"We don't really have to worry about running out," Greenleaf said. "We are very lucky, we have a lot of support from the whole town."
With fresh veggies brought every week by an anonymous "friend" and regular donations from Stop & Shop, Trucchis, Wal-Mart and many others, St. Vincent's is definitely in no danger of running out of supplies.
One of four food banks in Massachusetts, the Greater Boston Food Bank also operates on donations from a large variety of businesses starting with federal and state agencies, restaurants and grocery stores. During the weekly St. Vincent's pick-ups, the food bank allocates a certain amount of food for free and then charges 14 cents on the pound for anything additional The extra charge is only used to supplement the maintenance costs for the food bank In comparison, for-profit food retailers pay $3.69 a pound on average.
"The need is always greater than the supply," President and CEO of the Boston Food Bank Catherine D'Malo said. "our roles is to help these agencies help themselves. It's very difficult for smaller agencies and we do our best to help, but it's still not enough, that is the constant challenge."
Debra Cotter makes sure her eighth grade class at St. Bridget's School remembers St. Vincent's every year when they sponsor a week-long can drive to benefit the pantry.
Even though the 13-year-olds can look right out their classroom windows and see the pantry, sitting kitty-corner a few feet away, Cotter said she started the can drive three years ago to show the teenagers a different perspective to their world.
"I had a group of teenagers that needed to understand there was more than just teenagers in the world," Cotter said. "It worked out so well we decided to do it every year."
The class has one goal: to make sure that every student in the school brings in at least one can.
While the students learned about world hunger through homework assignments, the can drive allowed them to understand that hunger is a problem even in their small community.
"The homework assignment made me feel sad and want to bring in more cans," said eighth-grader Tom Wyatt.
"If you really think about it, you feel bad for people who don't have food."
Though some had a different incentive for donating food, the overloaded boxes at the back of the room spoke for the school's sincerity and concern for the less fortunate in Abington.
"Ms. Cotter said we better bring in the most food," Leah Romano said matter-of-factly. Once prompted, Romano added, "because we are setting the example and sponsoring it."
Each student launched their very own advertising campaign for the can drive by designing a poster displayed around the school. The class will have a chance to tour the food pantry and present their donation.
Local organizations help families in need
By SHANLEY STERN
SSTERN@CNC.COM
For Bridget Mason and her children, there really is a Santa Claus.
Or at least that's what she and her two daughters thought when they tromped through the front door of their small Abington apartment more than 10 years ago and found a myriad of colorfully wrapped gifts piled high under their decorated tree.
It must have been a fleeting thought, as Mason looked at her smiling girls hoarding around the tree, that this was a miracle of sorts. It was baffling to think that someone could have known that she was a struggling single mother dreading the thought of her little girls opening their eyes on Christmas morning to a barren tree.
But Red Greenleaf and his volunteer crew at Abington's St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry would never let that happen if they had anything to do with it. He never told Mason how they knew she needed help, but remained unobtrusive, yet concerned and ready to help at any given moment throughout that year and all the ones since.
"We came home one day and under the Christmas tree were all these presents," Mason said. "It makes me cry every time I think about it. Before that when things got really tough, I wouldn't have looked for help."
Now with a new baby and three other children ranging in age from 5 weeks to 17 years old, Mason said that first hard year when she separated from her husband has not been the last. Dividing her time between a part-time job as a waitress and watching after her children has made it next to impossible to cover all the monthly expenses.
And every December while most are picking out their Christmas trees and anticipating all that will soon be beneath it, Mason focuses on making sure the electricity or heat is not cut off.
"Every December I get scared," she said. "That's when all the final notices are sent out and I hope that nothing will get shut off. One time I brought my oil bill to the food pantry and they paid it for me."
In recent days with a newborn to look after, Mason has been unable to work, forcing her to apply for public assistance. In the interim before the welfare checks started arriving and after her last paycheck ran out, Mason once again looked to St. Vincent's for help. Not only was she welcomed to stock up on everything from fresh vegetables to peanut butter, cereal and even ice cream and potato chips, she needed not worry about Christmas dinner. The pantry volunteers had already thought of that. Waiting to be dispersed before the holiday is box after box full of all the fixings for a hearty holiday meal. Each year the volunteers disperse more than 100 Christmas meals for any Abington resident in need.
"Some people say I am getting a free ride," she said, "but I'm not. I'm working 24 hours a day. I am taking care of the kids and working. That's not getting a free ride. There is a certain stigma that goes along with being on welfare and using food stamps. So many people wouldn't rent to me because I have rental help."
But the pantry workers did not stop at food. As families came to pick up their Thanksgiving meals this past November, there were blank Christmas lists waiting to be filled out for their children. Each child's list was placed on a decorated tree, ready to be plucked off by other residents include on their shopping lists. Items as basic as underwear and socks to puzzles, electronic games and even sometimes bicycles or Rollerblades. Though sometimes Mason said she would like to know who sponsored her children, both the recipient and donor remain anonymous. The 'Giving Tree' has gotten so popular in past years that room after room was filled with gifts, eagerly awaiting small fingers to rip them open.
Mason said she is amazed each year when she sees all the gifts people donated for her children.
"One year someone sponsored my whole family," she said, "and one whole side of the living room was filled. I couldn't believe what my kids got for Christmas. It would have been a disappointing day otherwise because it was a tough year and there is only so much a single parent can do."
The Department of Social Services (DSS) Plymouth branch starts planning their 'Family to Family' Christmas program as early as September, co-coordinator Michele McGrath said. Formed to protect children from abusive or neglectful home environments, the DSS Family to Family program brings gifts to over 3,000 children in 19 surrounding South Shore towns. In each town, the department advocates for sponsors, who go shopping for the items on a child's Christmas list. Though many of the children in DSS custody still live at home with their natural parents, some live in foster care and children's homes. No matter the circumstance, both children and sponsors stay anonymous, only revealing a part of themselves through their gift choice.
"We mail them the gift list and they do the shopping," McGrath said of the sponsors. "They wrap, tag and deliver the gifts to DSS. We usually like to have about six gifts per child."
Though the social services department just recently expanded their coverage area to include Abington and Rockland, as well as eight other towns, sponsors such as Abington Savings Bank have already signed up to help.
Amy Jenkins was placed in a foster home at the age of 13 where she now is raising her two-year-old son and attending college. Though Jenkins is over 18 and her son is not in DSS custody, the Family to Family program will not forget her little boy this year. She asked for a bicycle helmet for her active son so he can ride on his tricycle and learn to Rollerblade on the mini-skates his grandmother gave him.
"They always got me exactly what I asked for," Jenkins said. "Even though my son is not in DSS custody, they always get for him too. It always used to boost my spirit to see all the boxes coming in at Christmas time."
Though they have never met, both Mason and Jenkins have one thing in common. Their faith and affection for those who have helped throughout their hard times never faltered.
"It's nice to know that if I ever need help, I know where to go," Mason said. "I can't imagine anyone ever starving in Abington."
The names used in this story were changed in order to maintain privacy.
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