This last week has been a long one. But we have accomplished A LOT thanks to an incredible team, strong partnerships with schools and cities, huge numbers of willing volunteers, luck, flexibility, hard work, and constant revisions to plans. I want to take a minute to share with you what’s been happening and also recognize the people and entities helping to make it happen.
• In one week’s time, almost 2,000 people signed up to our volunteer list to help keep the food moving.
• Between Tuesday and Friday, we will have delivered groceries to over 1,100 Cambridge homes and supported deliveries to over 300 Somerville homes.
• We’ve reached more people in the last week than in 6 weeks of school markets or 8 Home Delivery Weekends
• We’ve supported distribution of 400-500 meals (breakfast and lunch) to Cambridge students every day this week
• Over 100 different volunteers packed bags, delivered groceries, and supported meal distribution from schools
• We’ve responded to dozens of universities, corporations, and restaurants, making sure their surplus food doesn’t go to waste
• We’ve continued our daily food rescue and distribution to pantries and shelters
• Our (usual, non-emergency) Home Delivery program will serve its 160 clients this weekend
The planning for those first five bullets started only 8 days ago. And our original plans have changed multiple times throughout the week.
• Last Friday, we placed orders from the Greater Boston Food Bank and sent out our first call for volunteers.
• Monday, our volunteers arrived at 8 schools to support distribution of meals. This continued throughout the week.
• Tuesday, food and volunteers arrived in Somerville for pick-up and distribution. This has also continued all week.
• Also on Tuesday, our staff and volunteers set up at two housing complexes in Cambridge to pack and deliver groceries. We quickly realized that space and distancing were a challenge.
• Tuesday night, we checked the weather for the week and revised our plans.
• Wednesday we set up outside, where there was more space, at two additional housing complexes.
• Later on Wednesday, realizing that the next two days called for rain, we secured the senior center as a work-space and made plans to switch to a central packing model with volunteer drivers making deliveries throughout the city.
• Thursday we implemented the centralized model, tweaking our processes and plans on the fly.
• Today, Friday, finally, we are repeating a process! Our hope is this new model will carry us through the coming weeks and give us room to scale up as needed.
The cities of Cambridge and Somerville have been unbelievable partners through this and we could not have made this happen without them. The school liaisons in both cities have been key to identifying families in need. Vice Mayor Mallon, who also works for Food For Free, has used her connections to bring people together and enable efficient planning and flexible and fast changes to plans. The Central Square BID offered large carts for moving food. Central Square Florist sent bouquets home with many of our grocery deliveries. Volunteers worked hard alongside us and were patient and cheerful as we worked out the kinks.
And our staff… I cannot convey how incredibly hard they have been working all week. They are under significant pressure, plans keep changing, hours are long, and they remain positive and exceptionally committed to this work. I feel honored and extremely grateful to have such a supportive, strong, passionate team around me.
We continue to receive offers of support: kitchens, vans, food, and more. Thank you! We are pouring all of our energies into ensuring families in Cambridge and Somerville can receive groceries during this time. We are determined to stay focused on that effort as we believe that is where we can have the greatest impact.
We’re humbled by the strength and support of our community. For all the stress and pressure we are feeling, it is balanced out by the gratitude and appreciation for the people, organizations, and cities that have stepped up to join us.
