Senator Eldridge Secures $50,000 in FY22 Budget for Loaves & Fishes Pantry in Devens
Funds will go towards purchasing a food delivery truck and hiring a new driver.
Devens - State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) has secured $50,000 in the FY22 Senate Budget for the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry in Devens. The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed a $47.7 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) after adding $63.7 million in targeted investments over the course of three days of robust deliberations. As the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate food insecurity in our communities, supporting food pantries ensures that families in need will have access to healthy meals. As Massachusetts begins to fully reopen, it is important that we still take care of the many families whose economic situation worsened during the pandemic while we work to ensure an equitable economic recovery.
“Loaves & Fishes has been serving the most vulnerable members of our community for decades,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge. “Especially during the pandemic, they stepped up at a time when our community needed it most. I’m happy to have secured a $50,000 earmark for an organization that has done so much for residents in the area. These funds will allow Loaves & Fishes to expand their delivery capabilities and reach even more families in need. I’m thankful for the cooperation of the State Senate, Senate President Karen Spilka, and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Michael Rodrigues for their help in passing this earmark.”
Loaves & Fishes is a food pantry in Devens that has been operating in the area since the 1980s, and the organization currently serves over 800 families a year. The pantry currently operates in Ayer, Devens, Dunstable, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, and Shirley, and volunteers make up the bulk of their operations.
“We were delighted to learn of the state budget support for the purchase of an insulated box truck for Loaves & Fishes. This funding is coming at a critical time as we have been struggling to find a reliable way to retrieve our orders from the Greater Boston Food Bank. We are beyond grateful to Senator Eldridge for his on-going support of the Pantry and particularly for his advocacy with this project,” said Patricia Stern, Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, Inc.
Before COVID, Loaves & Fishes was supported financially by a company that provided a box truck and driver every week for the past 12 years to retrieve orders from the Greater Boston Food Bank. Once COVID struck, the company was unable to provide this service, and Loaves & Fishes has been relying on the good will of other area businesses for their help in providing a truck, a driver, or both.
Differences between the Senate budget and the version passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives last month are expected to be reconciled through a Conference Committee.
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