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Adrian VanEck, an Austin Square Baptist Church volunteer, loads boxes of long-life groceries from the Patriot Farm at the church food service.
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LYNN – Grim statistics in a. released Study by Feeding America show that every fifth child in Massachusetts lives in households with unsafe diets, which is why Austin Square Baptist Church decided to take action.
“We want to take care of the physical needs of the ward,” said Michael DeAngelis, a Church elder. “Lots of people we know need this help.”
Austin Square Baptist Church has partnered with New England Dairy and the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation to deliver 1,500 half gallons of milk and 650 meal cartons of long-life groceries to the community. Families drove and walked to get free food and milk at Julia F. Callahan School on Saturday, October 2.
DeAngelis organized the initiative that brought New England Dairy and the Church together. DeAngelis said his main job is working for New England Dairy so the two were brought together.
According to the Greater Boston Food Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased the number of people with food insecurity. After the pandemic, the number of people suffering from food insecurity in eastern Massachusetts rose to one in eight.
“Milk is one of the most requested items in grocery shelters,” said Clare Roach, program assistant at New England Dairy. “We are happy to be in a community that has really come together to help.”
The decision to host a ride at the Callahan School was also due to a connection in the church, DeAngelis said. Donna Coppola, a member of the Lynn School Committee, is also a member of the Church. DeAngelis said he was aiming for the ride to be at Lynn Classical, but Callahan School turned out to be the perfect location.
Coppola said she reached out to all the directors in town to spread the word about the ride so children from all over Lynn could benefit from the meals.
“It is so important to put food and milk in the hands of these families,” said Coppola. “Today was a really good day.”
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