CHICOPEE/HOLYOKE – The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many local soup kitchens, food pantries and community organizations throughout 2020.

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke and Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry are two organizations that have felt the effects of the virus. Both have seen higher demand from residents for necessities like food, shelter and before and after school care.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care recently stepped in to provide aid to both the Boys and Girls Club and Lorraine’s. Harvard Pilgrim gave $2,500 grants to each organization to help support their food delivery operations through the end of the year.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has been working this year to identify organizations that help within the community and need some extra support because of the pandemic. In early 2020, Harvard Pilgrim provided a $10,000 COVID Relief Grant to Lorraine’s in order for them to continue feeding Chicopee residents in need.

Senior Public Relations Specialist for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Greg burns explained that Harvard Pilgrim saw that Lorraine’s was doing another food drive because they were running low on supplies again. This is when they reached out to the Executive Director of Lorraine’s, Ruben Reyes.

“It was decided that we should support them again,” said Burns.

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke reached out to Harvard Pilgrim to start a dialogue about having some support when it came to their food delivery programs.

“In the conversation it became evident that they needed help right away,” said Burns.

Lorraine’s received the grant money on Dec. 10 and the Boys and Girls Club on Nov. 18.

“The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has really been focused over the last several years around access to healthy food and how we can support that as part of people’s whole health. One thing that the COVID-19 pandemic really has laid bare is the challenges that some of our residents have in accessing healthy food on a regular basis,” said Patrick Cahill, vice president and Massachusetts market lead for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

Since receiving the funds, both organizations have helped feed hundreds of local residents.

Lorraine’s has experienced a steady increase of visits since the beginning of COVID-19. They have reached out to community members and local businesses to help with food drives and financial donations.

“Lately, we’ve seen families who would not normally come through our doors. We’ve noticed a steady increase in families who are looking for meals.” said Reyes.

“We are so thankful to Harvard Pilgrim for helping us fight food insecurity for all who utilize our program,” said Reyes in a press release. “The program feeds 13 percent of Chicopee residents or more than 600 families a month, and the demand continues to grow.”

With the grant money, The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke was able to provide 1,000 meals to children and families in need.

Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke Director of Development Conor Bevan explained, “While Harvard Pilgrim recognized that the majority of their network is in Eastern Massachusetts, they did recognize a high need in Holyoke and they’ve noticed the high need throughout the year for food insecurity in Holyoke and they stepped up to the plate.”

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke is one of five Boys and Girls Clubs in Massachusetts that has remained open throughout the entirety of COVID-19. From March to June they launched an essential worker childcare program, they had summer camp programs and they now have a learning pod childcare and after school program.

“We haven’t stopped. Our doors were never shut. We pride ourselves on being able to serve kids in person,” said Bevan.

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke has transformed their facility to help combat food insecurity. They offer “Grab and Go” meals to families in need and they also offer targeted dinner deliveries to homeless shelters in Holyoke, to youth that have parents who are elderly or disabled and to youth that are in special needs circumstances.

“COVID flipped the world upside down. Our Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke is extremely proud of our response efforts,” said Bevan.

This was the first time the Boys and Girls Club has received funding from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

“Healthy lifestyle initiatives are a pillar of our organization. Right now, kids are not being connected to the food that they need in order to grow. We’ve stepped up to the plate, a lot of our community partners like Harvard Pilgrim have stepped up to the plate, and there’s no way that we can’t provide this service anymore. Especially with schools going remote or hybrid, youth really can’t be disconnected to food resources for an extended period of time,” said Bevan. “Kids can’t grow without proper food and nutrition. Kids can’t be hungry for youth development or hungry to graduate from high school if they’re just plain hungry,” said Bevan.

Those who are interested in supporting Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry are encouraged to visit their website at https://www.lorrainessoupkitchen.com/. Those interested in supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke are encouraged to visit their website at https://www.hbgc.org/index.php/en/.