COURTESY OF UNITED PARISH IN BROOKLINE
The United Parish in Brookline, 210 Harvard St., recently announced a new ministry partnership with the Brookline Food Pantry.
Starting Aug. 1, United Parish will serve as the central location for the food pantry. For 37 years, the Brookline Food Pantry has been a mainstay of alleviating food insecurity in Brookline. It began as a ministry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and became its own nonprofit in 2014. Volunteers come from all over Brookline. Need has expanded steadily over the years, leading to secondary locations in affordable housing complexes on Egmont and High Streets. In 2018, directed by the inspiration of Kim Kushner, BFP developed the Brookline Thrives program which provides weekend backpacks of meals for Brookline students who need the additional food. Nearly 550 students participate in this program.
Looking to the future
Pre-pandemic, BIG had established itself as a community resource for cutting-edge storytelling, hyperlocal programming and civic engagement.
BIG has long played role in keeping Brookline’s residents tuned in, especially among certain populations that might have a hard time otherwise, according to Weiss.
“All of the various meetings that are of interest to older adults, which in most cases are held at night and people can t get to them and don t see them, are now available to all of us because of BIG,” he said.
Weiss hopes to see virtual meetings stick around, even as Massachusetts continues to roll back COVID-19 restrictions. Gov. Charlie Baker allowed remote participation in public meetings for the duration of Massachusetts’ state of emergency, which will end June 15, putting virtual meetings in limbo.
Newton-Needham Regional Chamber to administer food assistance program
Community Content
A new program that aims to provide financial support for struggling restaurants and healthy meals to those facing food insecurity will launch next month in Newton, Wellesley and Brookline.
The initiative will deliver more than 10,000 restaurant meals to food pantries, senior programs and other persons in need who have been impacted by COVID-19.
It is funded by a $175,000 state budget earmark proposed by state Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, who wanted to help both restaurants and residents in her district.
The Newton-Needham Regional Chamber is directing the effort, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Newton, the Wellesley Health Department and the Brookline Chamber of Commerce.
New program to address food insecurity in Newton, Wellesley, Brookline wickedlocal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wickedlocal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
An underground food pantry in Boston draws needy families, and the cityâs disapproval
By Zoe Greenberg Globe Staff,Updated December 25, 2020, 5:27 p.m.
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Volunteers set up the food pantry in the parking lot of the Phineas Bates Elementary School.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
On a bright and freezing Friday afternoon, a stream of people arrived at the parking lot of an elementary school in Roslindale to visit an underground food pantry.
They rummaged through crates of carrots, potatoes, and eggplants, examining frozen meats and fresh eggs. Some slipped a dollar into a white donation bucket as they made their way among the cardboard boxes. Many had lost jobs and had families to feed over the holidays: They were planning to make pancakes, bake lasagna, roast chickens.