Featured Seva: Bread Distribution - A Humbling Experience
Posted on 26. Feb, 2009 by admin in Uncategorized
Many Hands Make A Miracle!
[This post has been written by Ms. Vinodini Gupta. You may contact us via this form.]
What is it?
Every night grocery stores all across MA and possibly other New England states are required to throw out any bread that says “Baked Fresh Daily” or that has reached its “Best Used By” date. A group of us have been finding ways for this bread to get into the hands of the people that need them the most. In some cases this means driving the bread to a pantry or shelter and in others, connecting up a shelter to a store so that they can do the pickup themselves. If you see the amount of wastage once, you will never be the same. Seeing the joy in the faces of the people who receive the bread is worth much more than the time spent in driving.
Sheer shortage
Given the state of the economy, many pantries, shelters and families are really struggling to put food on their tables. A food pantry in Framingham was on the verge of closing in Sept because too many people were knocking on their doors and they had less and less food. You may click here for the full story.
What a waste!
Just between the 2 grocery stores near my house, every night they throw out 200-300 pieces of baked goods. That’s about 50-80 loaves of bread or pitas and the rest are pastries, muffins, bagels, cookies, pies. On Christmas eve, Veena and Shunyam had to make 2 trips in their minivan to accommodate the equivalent of 60 large home trash bags or about 1000 pieces of baked goods. It is a real shame that so much food is being thrown out every single day when there are so many struggling to get a single meal a day.
Making a difference
Sisters of the Poor runs two homes for the elderly poor in Somerville and Pawtucket that serve 300 meals a day at each shelter. The Sister in charge of procuring food told that there were many days when they didn’t have enough food to feed their residents. We connected her up with the store in Medford and now she gets enough food for the hungry and unfortunate folks.
Be part of it and share the Joy!
We can make some calls to the grocery stores in your area to see which days they have available for pickup. Or you can call the bakery dept yourself and ask to speak with the bakery manager. I can fill you in on what to say. If you do not have a car and want to help, you can search online for pantries, shelters, elder care homes in your area and make some calls to understand if they can take bread or other perishables which are still okay to be consumed.
If several people in one area are interested, we can connect you up and you may only have to do the pick once or twice a month. The whole process should take you about an hour at the most. It may be possible that the pantry or shelter may have someone with a car and all your group has to do is connect up the two. Whatever you are able to do will be greatly appreciated.
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Tom Dest
26. Feb, 2009
I want to thank the person(s) that wrote about getting thrown out bread to shelters and those in need.
Because of this article and hearing Amma say over and over again to help the poor,I have commited to bringing Produce to a Food pantry in Hartford run by two Nuns. This will be a seva and spiritual practice for me.
Thank you. I am glad Amma NewEngland is expanding it’s web site. It has already helped me.
Peace to all.
admin
26. Feb, 2009
It’s so inspiring to see that you’ve acted according to your heart’s say after reading this story. Thanks Tom.