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North Brookfield Food Collaborative describes weekly deliveries, requests volunteers and donations
Summary
Volunteers from the North Brookfield Food Collaborative told selectmen they deliver weekly food to seniors and families, partner with local farms and donors, and are seeking volunteers, monetary donations and a safer location for a free farm stand.
Members of the North Brookfield Food Collaborative presented their program in public comment on June 3, describing a weekly schedule of food deliveries, partnerships with local farms and in-kind donors, and a growing client list that the group says now serves more households than when it formed.
The collaborative — introduced to the board by a speaker identified as Karen — said it coordinates produce donations from Stillman Farms, Howe Farm and Matrusey Farm; receives frozen donations from CNS Grocer; and works with local restaurants to supply home-cooked meals to seniors. Karen described a schedule: Tuesdays for senior fresh produce, Wednesdays for a delivered hot meal, and Thursdays for frozen and nonperishable pickup and deliveries. She said volunteers deliver to seniors and families who lack transportation and that the group served 122 households this week; earlier in the presentation she said deliveries regularly reach “over 70 families.”
The collaborative requests volunteers for meal preparation and deliveries (Wednesday and Thursday windows were described as roughly late morning through early afternoon), monetary donations to its PO Box through the Coalition for a Healthy North Brookfield, and nonperishable food donations dropped at 70 Bates Street. Karen said she will take responsibility for maintaining and monitoring a proposed free farm-stand location and asked the board to consider a small park near the library as an alternative to placing the stand on Gilbert Street, which volunteers said presents safety issues when crowds arrive.
Representative Donnie Berthiaume’s office has selected Karen as a “Heroine of the Commonwealth” for the district; presenters said Karen would accept that recognition on behalf of the collaborative. The board asked Karen to leave contact information and offered to view the proposed location with her.
Why it matters: the Collaborative’s deliveries provide home food access for seniors and households without transportation, reduce duplication among local pantries and expand community-based support; the group’s request for volunteers and town assistance is a civic call for capacity support.
Details: the collaborative provided an email contact (nmefoodcollaborative@gmail.com), a PO Box (Coalition for a Healthy North Brookfield, PO Box 98) for monetary donations, and a donation drop box at 70 Bates Street for nonperishable goods.
