Helping Neighbors Facing Food Insecurity
Food Pantry Delivery
Since April 2020, Newton Neighbors has been running a food delivery program in which volunteer drivers deliver food from local food pantries to families who are unable to access the pantries themselves. We currently deliver from Newton Food Pantry and Centre Street Food Pantry, and our volunteers make 150-200 deliveries each month.
Every month we need volunteer drivers! Each driver delivers to 3-4 families, typically within a single village of Newton. The total time commitment is about 60-90 minutes. More than 150 volunteers have already supported their neighbors through this program, and we welcome new volunteers to join this effort! You can sign up for one slot or more, whatever works for your schedule.
Delivery slots are on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons each week. More details are available at the signup links to the left.
Video: Co-founder, Ranjani Paradise, shares our food pantry delivery origin and current-day program.
Bulk Food Delivery (We are not recruiting volunteers for this program at this time)
We are proud to announce a new Newton Neighbors initiative to help address another dimension of food insecurity in our communities: opportunities for volunteers to deliver healthy, often locally-sourced food to Boston-area food pantries. This program was founded by Allen Katzoff, a longtime Newton resident who recently joined us at Newton Neighbors. In the spring of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Allen started reaching out to food rescue organizations in the greater Boston area and organizing volunteers to pick up and deliver food to area pantries to help meet the increased need. Over time, Allen recruited over 70 volunteers who have delivered up to 40,000 pounds of food per month to area pantries. The program is now run by Elyse Winick. Please use the link on the left to email us to connect with Elyse and get more information about volunteering for this program.
Image: Newton Neighbors delivering bulk food to local pantries.
Freedge (Newton's Community Fridge)
The Newton Community Freedge is volunteer-led initiative, organized by the Newton Food Pantry in collaboration with other local organizations including Newton Neighbors. It is a 24/7 refrigerator & pantry where neighbors can access free food and personal care products no questions asked and no sign up needed. Every Thursday, Newton Neighbor volunteers monitor the freedge.
Image: Newton Neighbors Board Chair, Jenn Pucci and Newton Neighbors Freedge captain, Elizabeth Stolar cleaning and stocking the Freedge.
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Interested in getting involved in other ways? Every month, Newton Neighbors
also launches a donation initiative. Click here to learn about this month.