WESTERN MASS. – As the coronavirus pandemic continues to create hardships for local families and businesses, area food pantries and volunteers are gearing up to meet the needs of their communities during these trying times. Reminder Publishing reached out to some of those preparing to help put food on Western Massachusetts tables this holiday season.

Westfield

This year’s Thanksgiving Food Drive for families of Westfield Public Schools will be a lot different because of COVID-19, said Sue and Ralph Figy, who have been organizing the school drive for the past seven years.

Instead of holding a public food drive at Westfield Technical Academy that is broadcast over the air on WSKB community radio, the Figys have been going to area businesses and individuals to ask them to sponsor parts of the meals.

Sue said her goal is to get to 200 meals, although she said she will probably go over 200, because the need is so great this year. “I started about a month ago reaching out to everybody for help. Nobody has said no to me. I’m really happy with that,” she said.

Westfield Bank, Advance Manufacturing, the Westfield Education Association and Kathy Wallis-McCann and James McCann donated financially. “We did pretty well there,” Sue said, adding if any other business would like to be part of the meal, they may contact Ralph at  883-2537. “We would love to have them,” she said.

They are also doing well on turkeys, but still need more. Raymaakers and Sons, and their sister company ROAR gave 100 turkeys for the second year in a row. Councilors James Adams of Firtion-Adams Funeral Home, John J. Beltrandi III, Dave Flaherty and Cindy C. Harris donated multiple turkeys.

The WTA cross country team also donated turkeys in honor of their coaches, Ralph Figy and Emmet Morrill. “All the team pitched in and in their name for a coaches’ gift they donated six turkeys and numerous bags of food for the drive. This was so beautiful, and both Emmet and Ralph were overwhelmed by their generosity,” Sue said.

While they can’t have people dropping off turkeys or other donations at the school this year, they can sponsor them at North Elm Butcher Block for $25 a turkey by Nov. 18. North Elm Butcher Block, which is also a donor to the drive, will then order and deliver them.

“So many people in the community have gone and purchased turkeys from North Elm Butcher Block and this has been very successful.  You can even call North Elm Butcher Block and make the $25 donation over the phone. They have been keeping track of all donors for us,” Sue said.

Area businesses are sponsoring other parts of the meal as well. Coldwell-Banker Realty is sponsoring the corn, and Kathy Barnes and Real Living is taking on the cranberry sauce. William and Susan Phelon donated the squash, along with an anonymous farmer who brought a truckload. Elm Electric is sponsoring ingredients for the green bean casseroles.

The Figy family ­– Ralph, Sue, Lauren and Sean – provided the stuffing and gravy, and the Westfield Police Association is sponsoring brownies for dessert. They also had a huge donation of cereal from Lorena Dondley, “So everyone will get cereal. She does it every year for us,” Sue said.

Sue said another way the public can support the Thanksgiving Food Drive is to purchase gift cards in small increments from Stop & Shop, Price Rite or Big Y, which may be dropped off or mailed to the Westfield Technical Academy Office at 33 Smith Ave., or to the Central Office in the Westwood Building at 94 North Elm St.

“Sometimes we have the ability to give somebody the dry goods but not the protein,” she said, adding that any left over cards will be given to families in need throughout the year.

“This year I’m finding kids that I’m talking with who last year were doing okay, are not doing okay this year,” Sue said.  She said she received a call from the Westfield Education Association, saying if she knows somebody in need, to let them know. “They (WEA) made a huge donation this year. They’ve also helped families since the pandemic started,” she said.

The Figys said they can’t rely on student volunteers this year, as they have in the past, in order to minimize contact and to not take students out of class. Instead, they are organizing a group to put together all the meals at the Westfield Technical Academy, which they will then deliver to the individual schools themselves on Nov 20. The schools will then make arrangements with the families for meal pick-ups or delivery.   

“I’m very grateful for all of the organizations and people that have donated,” Sue said.

Southwick

Sally Munson, director of Our Community Food Pantry at 220 College Highway in Southwick is getting ready to once again offer all the fixings for a proper Thanksgiving meal for 125 to 150 families in the greater Southwick community, including Granville and Tolland, who may not otherwise be able to enjoy this holiday.

This year, the pantry will give out a full meal for all of the families that register, who will then receive a ticket ahead of time for drive-through distribution on Nov. 23, from 2:30 to 4:40 p.m.  Each family will get a turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mushroom soup, green beans, cake mixes and canned milk. They will also receive a bag of fresh potatoes, onions and carrots. 

Munson said they are expecting up to 150  meals will be packed according to family size, including one for a family of 11.  She said 15,000 pounds of food will go out of the pantry that day.  “This Thanksgiving, we’re very blessed. The Episocpal Church has pledged 125 turkeys for us already,” she said.

Munson said Our Community Food Pantry has been distributing between 12,000 and 14,000 pounds of food per month, an increase of 4,000 pounds per month since March when schools shut down. At the time, they immediately started up their Healthy Summer and Beyond program that usually provides breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks for school children over the summer months. That program stopped when schools opened in September, but they are keeping an eye on school closures, she said.

The food pantry has also remained open to the public since the pandemic began. Munson, who works part-time for the Board of Health in Sheffield, immediately established safety protocols for the pantry in order to stay open.

Plexiglass was installed to separate the staff and volunteers, and people have been asked to wear a mask, sanitize their hands, and maintain social distancing.  A new beeper system has just been added, so when clients come during open hours, they knock on the door, give their names and get a beeper, so they can wait and stay warm in their cars.  Pantry volunteers also sanitize between each client.

There are a few ways that the community can support the Thanksgiving meal and the ongoing programs at the pantry.  For one, local Boy Scout troops are once again participating in the annual Scouting for Food drive on Nov. 21, during which they are asking residents to put out bags of food in a visible location on their driveways or near their mailboxes at 9 a.m., for pick up between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.  

Scouts from Southwick Troops 114 and Troop 338 are asking for donations of  non-perishables, such as pasta, soups, beans, canned vegetables, sauces, hot chocolate, teas and coffees (no expired items please).  Munson said they usually get 10,000 pounds of food from this drive, which helps the pantry stock up going into the winter. Health and hygiene items are also welcome.

Normally, the scouts make a day of it, gathering for lunch and then help to sort and shelve the donations. This year, scouts will be collecting the food with their families, and will drop off their collections at the food pantry in boxes that will then be put into a trailer on the property where they will sit for 72 hours.

Troop 114 Assistant Scoutmaster Andy Reardon said they didn’t want to cancel Scouting for Food this year because of the need and the tremendous support they get from the residents of Southwick.

“It’s amazing, the overwhelming generosity the residents have shown, and the individuals donating are not aware of the good they have done. It is a huge, huge event for the food pantry,” Reardon said, adding that they will visit every house on Nov. 21 for the collection.

Cash donations to the pantry are also welcome. Munson said several of the other fundraisers that take place annually by various organizations for Our Community Food Pantry were canceled this year.

Checks may be written out and mailed to Our Community Food Pantry, 220 College Highway, 01077.  Donations of money and food are also accepted at the pantry, although donations of food for the Thanksgiving meals need to be made by Nov. 16. Open hours for the pantry are  Mondays, 3 to 5 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to noon, and Thursday, 5 to 6 p.m.

Munson said cash donations allow them to buy in bulk from distribution centers. She said she enjoys the challenge of getting the food “as cheap as I can, and seeing how far I can make my dollars stretch.” She said her goal is to keep three months of food in the pantry at all times.

“I want people to give however they feel comfortable,” Munson said.  For more information, contact the pantry by email to Directors@admin.community-food-pantry.org or call 569-9876.

Huntington

Laura Gavioli, director of the Huntington Food Pantry at 63 Old Chester Rd., at the Pioneer Valley Assembly of God church, said although the food pantry is not doing anything out of the ordinary for the holidays, they are buying turkeys to include in food boxes they are giving out this month.

“Starting [last] week, we pre-order 50 turkeys every week until Thanksgiving,” Gavioli said. She said some donations and grant money received through the year is set aside for the Thanksgiving purchases.

Gavioli said that ordinarily, the pantry sees 50 families a week from throughout the hilltowns during its open hours on Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m.  However, this time of year, new families may come.  On Nov. 5, they had already served 44 families during the morning hours.

“This is the first Thanksgiving in COVID. We don’t know how many people will show up to get extra food,” she said.

Also due to COVID, the staff at the pantry now pre-packages all of the boxes and gives them out curbside, as hallways are too narrow to have people safely come inside.  

Gavioli said recently their freezers were getting very empty of meat, and the Food Bank, where they purchase the majority of the food for pennies per pound, was also low on meat.

“Clients are used to getting three packages of meat every week, and we were down to two,” she said, adding, “We can’t always have the array that we usually do. We rely on donations.”

Gavioli said the food donations that they pick up every week from Walmart, Big Y, Stop & Shop, Cumberland Farms and Price Rite, helped. “We prayed, and it came through,” she said.

Donations of food are welcome at any time, and may be dropped off during the mornings at the church by calling ahead to 667-3196, or in the donation box at the Huntington Post Office.  Gavioli said some people have dropped off turkeys.

Sending a check is even better, because the money goes farther, Gavioli said, adding that all of the donations are used to buy food.   Checks may be sent to the Huntington Food Pantry, PO Box 477, Huntington, MA 01050.