Neighbors Support Neighbors at Medway Food Pantries

One in six people in Massachusetts has food insecurity, according to Susan Dietrich, director of the Medway Village Food Pantry, which, for a small location open just once a week (Saturday mornings, from 9-10 a.m.) inside Medway Village Church at 170 Village Street, is making a difference. On average, this little food pantry, which shares a small space with The Good Shepherd Nursery School, distributes about 65,000 pounds of food each year, and a third of that comes from community members, local businesses and food drives. Two of those community drives are coming up.
On October 13, for example, Team Rice will set up a small table outside The Muffin House to take donations for the food pantry.
“Some people donate goods, but they prefer money as they can actually get a lot more with their connection to the Greater Boston Food Bank – more than we would be able to get. Anyone who donates gets a ticket for a free small hot or iced coffee, just as a thank you, and maybe (the food pantry) will get increased awareness,” says Kristen Rice, of Team Rice, which consists of four family members. Last year she says, they brainstormed on ways to give back to the community.
“We thought Medway Village Food Pantry would be a perfect community group to align with,” says Rice. “We’ve lived in Medway pretty much our entire lives – I have a sixth or seventh generation niece and nephew. We chose the Muffin House (because) they’ve been great in partnering with us in offering free coffee for any donations. It gives the food pantry a lot more exposure and makes it accessible for people stopping by who might not know much about the food pantry. We were definitely happy with it last year.”
The Medway Village Food Pantry also partners with the Medway Food Pantry at Nahatan Circle. That’s open Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The two Medway food pantries’ memberships with the Greater Boston Food Bank offer the advantage of being able to purchase food twice a month at a significantly reduced rate, but members are expected to seek outside donations to sustain its operations.
Community events that have been critical to the food pantry are the Medway Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts’ Scouting for Food events, in partnership with Star Market of Medway. The Boy Scouts conducted their event in June, and next month, November 3rd, the Medway Cub Scouts will follow suit outside the Shaw’s supermarket.
Although Medway residents comprise a plurality (39%) of the Medway Village Food Pantry’s clientele, “we serve all residents of Massachusetts,” says Dietrich. From July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, this food pantry served 5,169 people from 33 towns in Massachusetts. After Medway (39%), those people hailed from Milford (20%), Bellingham (12%) and Millis (9%), and the remaining 20% came from 29 other towns, ranging from Framingham & Franklin to Upton & Whitinsville.
Although several pantry clients receive SNAP benefits, many aren’t eligible. Dietrich points to a recent survey that says 47% of people who are food insecure do not meet income guidelines for SNAP.
“Particularly in this area of the country, where cost of living is so high, we have clients who aren’t eligible (for SNAP), but they still can’t feed their family of four, five or six. We have families with four kids who take care of Mom and Dad. The last day of each month, we are mobbed. Their funds have run out. One of the things we talk to people about is how to stretch (the food),” says Dietrich.
In total, around 15% of the population the Medway Village Food Pantry sees are seniors; 28% are children, and the rest are adults aged 18-65.
Dietrich says reasons fueling the need for the pantry vary.
“Some of it is cost of living, some job loss, illness in the family, death of a provider –
housing costs especially, rent keeps going up and up. We actually have people come in asking if we’ve heard of places for rent. People are getting priced out of places affordable to live. We have people who say, ‘I just got evicted. I stayed in my car last night,’” she says.
Dietrich laments that at times, the need is greater than the space will allow.
“It’s a challenge for sure,” she says. In fact, Dietrich’s son, Liam, recently designed new shelving at the pantry for his Eagle Scout project, in order to allow more efficient use of the space.
Despite an ever-present need, says Dietrich, “We’re very fortunate, we feel very supported by this community, and by the business community.” The Medway Shaw’s and The Muffin House, for example, provide regular donations of food.
Both Medway food pantries also do accept food donations.
“Sometimes, donations people will leave for us – they’ll clean out their own food pantry and will give us food that is three, four or five years old, or items that are dented or damaged,” says Dietrich. Liam Dietrich worked with Paul Galante, of the Medway Food Pantry, to put together a “DONATE” guideline sheet for food donations, which accompanies this article.
Those who come to the food pantry for help will not only find food, they will encounter much needed compassion from the 25-40 volunteers who run the pantry, about 15 of whom are there on a given Saturday morning.
“I firmly believe everyone who walks in the door should feel respected, kindness, supported,” says Dietrich. “We’ll connect them with resources as we can – social workers, the senior center. We get maybe 15, 20 minutes with them, but we want to make sure they consider us a resource. I really don’t know a lot of people who feel good about needing to rely on someone else for something as basic as their food. The hardest thing is walking in the door the first time.”