The Greater Boston Food Bank COVID-19 Response

“If I had one word to describe what happens here, I would say it’s generosity,” says a senior citizen who visits Acord Food Pantry in Hamilton, MA. Originally from Honolulu, she started as a volunteer at Acord when she moved to Massachusetts and now attends its weekly food distributions to help make ends meet. Acord Food Pantry is one of the 600 Agency Partners across Eastern Massachusetts receiving free food from The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). 

“There’s always something extra around the holidays,”   she adds. “So many more people are needing assistance. They have turkeys and hams at the appropriate times. And for Christmas, they do a breakfast bag with syrup and pancakes and all that good stuff.”

This experience inspires her to donate to GBFB, which fuels a network of hunger-relief agencies across Eastern Massachusetts, including Acord Food Pantry. “I have limited income, social security, but every year I try to send a small check,” she says. 

But she stresses that the “generosity of spirit” at the pantry extends beyond the holiday season, too.  “It’s every week, every day,” she continues. “These people are just so kind, so sweet, so loving, so helpful that you can’t really put it well enough into words. You just have to be here.” 

A tightly knit community has formed around the pantry’s special seniors-only distributions every week. “Coming from Hawaii, I know how to do the hula, and I promised to teach the group to do the hula,” she says with a laugh. “Oh my goodness. That’d be a hoot.” 

Together, We Have The Power to #EndHungerHere

Links:

• Read the full story here
• Donate to GBFB here