The joy and optimism in the room was palpable as team members from Alexandria Real Estate Equities and their families joined us at Just Eats for a special family grocery box-packing volunteer shift early last month.
With election day closing schools to allow for voting, Michelle Lower—Food For Free Board Member and Vice President of Real Estate Development & Community Relations at Alexandria Real Estate—brought us the fantastic idea of another family volunteer day at Food For Free.
“I believed this would be a wonderful opportunity to bring families of Alexandria employees together to give back to our community. Packing Just Eats boxes allows us to show our children and families the benefit and joy of helping those in our community receive healthy and nutritious food. Food For Free is an innovator in this space, and I was honored to share their work with my family and colleagues,” shared Michelle.
Over the course of a two hour packing shift, 8 people worked along a production line to pack boxes with nutritious fruits, vegetables, and pantry staples. The boxes included vegetables like beets, parsnips, butternut squash, poblano peppers, red and yellow sweet peppers, heads of lettuce, and sweet potatoes. They included pantry staples like boxed milk, oatmeal, and boxed stuffing, and fruits including apples, Asian pears, lemons, and limes. The families were able to pack this abundance of healthy food into 360 grocery boxes that were later delivered to our community partners in Eastern Massachusetts, such as the Somerville YMCA and various housing sites associated with Cambridge Housing Authority and Somerville Housing Authority.
Developed during the pandemic to meet increased demand, Food For Free’s Just Eats program distributes fresh produce and pantry staples to food pantries, low-income housing sites, and community programs. Based on the needs of the people they serve, our Just Eats distribution partners select between two options—receiving individual grocery boxes that facilitate streamlined, nutrition-focused distribution, or bulk, which allows more customization for the people receiving the food. Through our Just Eats program, Food For Free distributes 1,000 grocery boxes and up to 27,000 pounds of bulk produce and shelf-stable food per week.
After completing their volunteer shift, the group was able to sit down together and learn more about Food For Free and the impact we have in the community. Food For Free’s Program Manager, Jennifer Pectol, presented to the group about Food For Free’s mission and role in the community food system in reducing food waste and increasing food security. Family members were able to ask questions to gain more insight into our work. Jennifer was able to highlight how the food that the group just packed will make its way to our valued community partners in the area and get into the hands of families who need it.
“I wanted to be sure we highlighted all the volunteer opportunities, but especially Heat-n-Eats, which operates in Kendall Square, close to our Alexandria office,” said Michelle. “It was important to me to share with my colleagues and their families just what a special place Food For Free is for the community and for me. This was a meaningful day in the community, and it was wonderful to spend it volunteering and giving back with family and coworkers.”
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has been a valued partner of Food For Free over the years. From donations, to event sponsorships, volunteering, and more, we are grateful for their continued support.
We love how food brings people together, allowing people to show love through the warmth and comfort of a home cooked meal with fresh ingredients, or in this case, through families packing healthy ingredients into grocery boxes together to support the health and wellbeing of neighboring families. Seeing our production floor filled with various generations coming together to make a difference in their community is something we always cherish. Educating the youth of our community not just that 1 in 3 of their neighboring households experience food insecurity, but that they can be a part of the solution, was a meaningful lesson that we hope fosters collaboration and innovations in the future as we all continue to fight hunger together. Thank you to Michelle, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and their families for your support of Food For Free.