Observer Advocate - published 2/12/21
https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/observer-advocate/2021/02/12/bread-life-campaign-final-planning-stages/6741090002/?fbclid=IwAR0ZlRgOGj86C1X_J5yPBcHf9PS6LaODefhD1nKRuYuFW-60LdJzH-hiX_I
Opening: “Bread of Life's Under One Roof Capital Campaign is in the final planning stages of its campaign to begin construction on a new facility. The new facility is intended to bring programs “under one roof” and allow Bread of Life to serve more people more efficiently…”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/housing-families-inc-opening-first-185000876.html
MALDEN, Mass., Jan. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Housing Families will open a new shelter for homeless individuals at the OYO Hotel in Malden in early February, the result of close collaboration between the City of Malden, Malden Redevelopment Authority, Malden's legislative delegation, and several nonprofit partners. Housing Families, a Malden-based housing services organization, has provided emergency shelter for families for nearly 35 years, but this will be their first shelter for adult individuals. The 22-bed shelter will house individuals from the Metro North region, with priority given to Malden residents.
Malden and its neighboring cities have long lacked an individual shelter, and the local need has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Because congregate shelters have been especially vulnerable to COVID-19, Housing Families' new shelter provides each individual with a private room and bathroom to ensure social distancing and reduce COVID-19 transmission.
This shelter project was organized and coordinated by the Malden Redevelopment Authority (MRA) along with Housing Families, Eliot Community Human Services, the Malden Warming Center, Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD)'s Malden mobile outreach team, Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA), and Bread of Life, with active support from the City of Malden and Metro North Housing. Together, these agencies secured resources for the individual shelter, including case workers, food from Bread of Life, and a pool of rapid rehousing funds to help homeless individuals transition to permanent housing. The shelter and rapid rehousing efforts will supplement the City of Malden's coordinated response to COVID-induced housing instability, which already includes rental assistance, court-based eviction prevention, and a local moratorium on eviction enforcement in most cases. As part of the rapid rehousing services, shelter occupants will have access to financial assistance necessary to secure long-term housing, including rental assistance and security deposits. They will also receive social services and case management support.
Housing Families and the City worked with State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian to secure funding through the state Department of Housing and Community Development. That combination of legislative advocacy and municipal support makes the project feel truly community-supported, says Housing Families CEO Laura Rosi.
"It was inspirational to see housing services providers, the City of Malden, and our local legislators come together to make this project happen. We are both grateful and proud of the dignified temporary housing that we will be providing and that will benefit the health of the individuals we serve and the community," said Ms. Rosi. "This pandemic has allowed us to see that now, more than ever, access to housing is essential for the safety of individuals, families, and for society as a whole."
"This shelter, which opens during one of Malden's darkest winters, shows the collective power of our community coming together to support our most vulnerable neighbors," said Malden Mayor Gary Christenson. "This project is possible due to the tremendous collaboration between my office, Ward Councillor Jadeane Sica and MRA staff, along with our state legislators, and nonprofit leaders, including Housing Families. We are proud to support this much-needed shelter in our community."
"This shelter is a vital component of the housing stability safety net the City and MRA have built since the pandemic began," said MRA Executive Director Deborah Burke. "Our rental assistance and court-based eviction prevention programs help keep people from becoming homeless, and now this shelter will serve people experiencing homelessness and help them secure permanent housing."
Individuals experiencing homelessness can request services by contacting Tom Southerton, Housing Families' Program Manager during business hours at 781-322-9119 ext. 159. The Malden Warming Center, located at 529 Eastern Avenue in Malden, will also act as an intake site for this shelter and individuals interested in staying at the shelter can visit the warming center for more information. Transportation to the shelter will be provided and Bread of Life will supply the shelter residents with three meals a day. This shelter is for adult individuals only and families with children who are experiencing homelessness should contact the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) at 781-388-7300.
Aired Sept. 20, 2020
https://magic1067.radio.com/blogs/kendra-petrone/bread-of-lifes-gabriella-snyder-stelmack-on-ew
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/06/metro/food-insecurity-soars-bread-life-looks-break-ground-new-malden-building/
By James Sullivan Globe Correspondent, Updated August 6, 2020, 3:14 p.m.
MALDEN — For four decades, Bread of Life has provided community meals and other food assistance to residents north of Boston who have fallen on hard times. On a recent weekday afternoon, Gabriella Snyder Stelmack walked through the rented two-floor building the nonprofit has occupied since 2011.
It’s a rabbit’s warren of musty storage rooms and wood-paneled offices. Staff coordinators and young volunteers bustled about, packing the day’s grocery deliveries.
“We need [a] modern facility, which we can easily sanitize,” said Snyder Stelmack, the organization’s executive director. “We’ve needed it for years, and now we need it even more so.”
Since its founding in 1980, Bread of Life has served free food out of schools, churches, municipal buildings, and other spaces around Malden, Medford, and Everett. For nearly half that time, the organization has dreamed of building its own facility, where staff and volunteers could serve weeknight meals, operate their food pantry, and warehouse the groceries that get delivered to seniors and families struggling with food insecurity, all under one roof.
After years of false starts, a near-constant search for makeshift spaces, and the sudden bankruptcy in 2015 of a longtime nonprofit partner, Bread of Life is finally hoping to break ground by the beginning of next year on its new building. The facility will include two floors of food services and office space and a third floor that will provide 14 low-income housing units.
The project could not come to fruition at a better time: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing financial crisis, Bread of Life has seen the need for its programs skyrocket.
“We need [a] modern facility, which we can easily sanitize,” said Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, Bread of Life's executive director. “We’ve needed it for years, and now we need it even more so.”
Snyder Stelmack said the average number of meals served on a given evening Tuesday through Friday each week has risen dramatically in recent months, from 80 per night prior to the virus to 120 to 145 of late. The food pantry in Malden, which has been converted to a grab ‘n’ go model since the state issued its stay-at-home advisory in March, has been processing record numbers, serving a new high of 196 families on one Friday in early July.
Food assistance programs across the state are reporting higher demand. In Amesbury, Our Neighbors’ Table registered about 800 new “guests,” as recipients are called, from mid-March to May, said executive director Lyndsey Haight.
“In a normal month we’d register maybe 60 new people,” she said.
Every food program Haight knows has seen similar increases, she said. Most if not all pantries have closed to visitors and instituted curbside pickup, with online ordering. That’s one silver lining, Haight said.
“For people who have been afraid to get food before COVID,” she said, “it’s been a discreet way for them to be able to get help and overcome some of the stigma.”
According to Feeding America, a nonprofit that represents more than 200 food banks across the country, one in eight residents of Greater Boston will be in danger of going hungry this year due to the coronavirus and its economic implications. Compare that with a pre-pandemic report that predicted one in 13 would need food assistance this year.
Bread of Life’s long, narrow building on Eastern Ave. in Malden, part of which sits on the site of Governor John Volpe’s former family home, will be demolished to make way for the new facility.
The new pantry will be “superette”-style, said Snyder Stelmack; the new kitchen will be big enough to prepare the weeknight community meals, which have been served most recently at Malden’s First Baptist Church and an American Legion post. For the past several years, Bread of Life — which calls itself a “non-sectarian, faith-based ministry” — has served Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in the cafeteria at Malden High School.
“God knows what’s going to happen this year” with the holiday meals, said Snyder Stelmack.
The new building project carries a total estimated cost of $9.1 million. Metro North Housing Corp., which will oversee the residential units, is contributing $4.8 million. Of the $4.3 million remaining, Bread of Life has raised $2.5 million in its “Under One Roof” fund-raising campaign and expects to borrow another $1 million. That leaves slightly less than $800,000 to raise to reach the goal.
Snyder Stelmack joined Bread of Life as a volunteer coordinator in the late 1980s. She’d come to Boston from upstate New York to work in a lab at Harvard —- she has a degree in biochemistry — and to sing opera. She had an accompanist who worked at the Pine Street Inn; volunteering there led her to feel maybe she wouldn’t find her life’s calling in a science lab.
Passing through the Malden building, she stopped to say hello to a few of the volunteers. Daniel Nguyen, 15, of Malden said he is donating his time this summer in part because his grandparents have benefited from Bread of Life’s food programs.
Dan Urchuk, a rising senior at Melrose High School, said he learned about the organization from a friend’s mother, a grant writer for the program.
“My help, I think, is needed,” he said while stacking cardboard boxes for deliveries. “We’re doing, like, 250 families this week.”
Despite the logistical difficulties created by the virus, Haight of Our Neighbors’ Table suggests that the hard work of raising awareness about the need for food assistance programs is paying off.
“The platform for food insecurity is so much louder than any of us ever expected,” she said. “It’s a direct result of us beating the drum over and over for the last 10 years, working together to make our communities aware of the need.”
Jack Cocio, executive director of the South Shore Community Action Council in Plymouth, said he thinks the council’s food resources program may see the amount of food it distributes rise from 500,000 pounds last year to 750,000 this year. Almost all the group’s support comes from private donors and businesses, he said.
“We do a lot of assistance with very little money from the federal government, or the state government, for that matter,” he said. If the unemployment crisis persists, the need will rise, he predicted.
“We believe there’s going to be significant stress on families,” Cocio said. “There’s a big wave coming.”
As with most similar programs, Bread of Life partners with an extensive network of businesses, civic organizations, and social services. These include Mystic Valley Elder Services, the American Muslim Center of Everett, and the Greater Boston Food Bank, which supplied almost half of the nearly 1.5 million pounds of food that Bread of Life distributed last year.
“Our connection has always been the people we serve,” said Kathleen McKenna, a Bread of Life board member who has been involved since 1987.
Out by the bike path that runs past Bread of Life’s main entrance, a man sat quietly in the passenger seat of his parked car. The car was piled high with trash bags full of his belongings.
John Michel, 76, said he lost his home a few years ago, after his wife’s medical problems drained their savings. She died in 2017.
In better times, they had volunteered to serve food for Bread of Life at St. Paul’s Church.
“My wife was a visiting nurse,” said Michel. “That’s what she did — helped people.” Now he lives out of his car, and he relies on Bread of Life for much of his food.
Michel has an application for one of Metro North’s rooms to be built on the top floor of the new building, the Bread of Life staff said.
On the paneled wall of one room inside the old building, office manager Marcia Manong keeps a large Native American dream catcher. It’s there, she said, to catch “all the dreams of Bread of Life.
“We’ve got big dreams,” she said with a smile.
James Sullivan can be reached at jamesgsullivan@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @sullivanjames.
https://www.google.com/amp/everettindependent.com/2020/07/08/bread-of-life-pop-up-pantry-makes-food-distribution-easy-at-lafayette-school/amp/
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into the summer months, it can be taken for granted that the need for many families to access food continues just as strongly as it did in April or May. Lines at the Food Pantries in Everett have not let up as the months have gone on, and that’s why Bread of Life introduced their pop-up food pantry at the Lafayette School in late May.
The pantry has a walk-up option, but it also has a very smooth drive-thru option as well – which involves much less contact and time than the pantries with lines for service. Tainara Candido runs the pop-up, which takes place from 3-5 p.m. every Thursday at the Lafayette front door. She said there are no requirements, and the pop-up – which has operated out of City Hall for years – simply wants to get food into the hands of needy people. “There are no requirements and no one has to prove anything to get help,” she said. “There definitely is still a huge need in Everett. I really think this one can be easier for a lot of people. The need is there and I don’t think everyone is aware of all the places giving out food, like ours.” Last Thursday, the traffic at the pantry was steady, and Candida said they serve about 200 families per week that drive thru or walk up on a Thursday. The first week, on May 28, they had 240 families come through. Young volunteers Vinicius Terra and Samuel Costa help to load food into one of the vehicles at the Lafayette pop-up pantry. Patty Kelly of Bread of Life said they have served 555 households in June, and a total of 795 households since they opened in May. “We’ve been in City Hall for quite some time,” said Kelly. “City Hall is closed for now and the need in Everett continues to grow. There are other food resources in Everett, which is wonderful, but there is need for more. That’s why we decided to add a day on Thursdays.” Candida said the site is really smooth, and almost made for such a system. “I do like the site because it’s visible and for us it’s a quick and easy set-up,” she said. “For those coming, you just drive down the street, get the food and leave.” Last Thursday, cars came in one after another in the afternoon. Volunteers asked where they were from, just for record keeping purposes, and then they proceeded to the distribution point, where volunteers loaded their food in the trunk or back seat. Margaret Mato, her son Samuel Costa and his friend, Vinicius Terra, have been volunteering at the Lafayette for several weeks. Mato said there is so much need, and it’s something she can do to help. “I always like to do volunteer work and I do volunteer at my church too,” she said. “It’s our way to help others who need it. There are a lot of people who are in need. Some don’t know or aren’t aware this is here. So, I always tell everyone about it too. My son and his friend didn’t want to come the first time. Now, they have a lot of fun and they like to help. It’s good to know when times are tough whom you can count on.” Other volunteers are needed to help load up the truck at Bread of Life in Malden and unload it at the Lafayette. Volunteers are also needed to break down the pantry and take supplies back to Malden. Likewise, many volunteers there come from Encore Boston Harbor and with them going back to work, there could be a shortfall of hands to help. Anyone who would like to participate can contact Bread of Life’s Candido at tcandidobol@gmail.com, 781-281-8302. She said they would at least be at the Lafayette through the summer. “We know we’ll be here every Thursday at least through the end of the summer,” she said.
https://everettindependent.com/2020/06/24/volunteers-still-needed-at-bread-of-life-to-distribute-food-to-neighbors/
Despite the economy opening up more and more, Bread of Life saw the highest number of families ever accessing its Malden food pantry on June 19: 186 families served in two hours. Prior to that, the need for the pantry had peaked at 185 families at the end of April during the height of the pandemic. With the need for food continuing, so is the need for volunteers. “Since the onset of the pandemic, Bread of Life has benefitted from an outpouring of volunteers from the community,” said Bread of Life Executive Director, Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, “But the good news that more and more people are returning to work means that we are losing great volunteers.” Among those still struggling with food insecurity are those waiting to be called back to work, those waiting for unemployment benefits, families self-isolating with the virus, and elderly and disabled residents.
Former Bread of Life Director, Tom Feagley, spoke with some BOL volunteers recently to find out what inspired them to get involved. Many expressed the desire to help those in need, saying things like “I’m not working. School is closed until September. I want to help others in need;” “I want to make a positive difference. Bread of Life has been doing this as long as I remember,” “I’m in a position where I am able to do something meaningful to help others;” “I’ve always worked in social service. It’s part of who I am.” A teenaged boy who has been volunteering with the pantry for two years said “I like being part of a team doing good things.” Many Bread of Life volunteers over the years first came to BOL when they needed help, as this volunteer recalled: “When I struggled to make ends meet a few years ago, Bread of Life kept me and my family afloat. Now I get to do the same for others.”
According to McKay Russo, BOL’s Pantry Coordinator, the pantry has been offering as many as 186 free food orders during its twice-weekly distribution. Each contains a minimum of 4 bags, nearly 40 pounds of quality food – double what the pantry was doing before COVID-19. Bread of Life initiated in March a free grocery delivery service to seniors, disabled and residents who need to self-isolate. Volunteers have delivered to over 500 households in 10 communities. Volunteer Karen Buck said “Now I benefit from meeting other dedicated people and learning new skills. I am hooked!”
Feagley noted: “Although Bread of Life’s income has grown, it has not doubled. The pandemic hit just as they were ramping up their “Under One Roof” capital campaign. The goals are to develop the 54 Eastern Avenue site to include a commercial kitchen, dining room/multi-service hall, storage for food and supplies, walk in cooler and freezer, and offices. The development includes partnering with the nonprofit Metro North Housing Inc to build affordable efficiency apartments to house 14 single women and men leaving homelessness.” Katie summed it up best: “I want to give hope.”
Feagley commented: “We are living in and through challenging times. Jobs disappear. Schools close. Bills go unpaid. People choose between paying full rent or buying food. Lives can fall apart. Much seems hopeless. Not so at Bread of Life.”
Opportunities to volunteer at Bread of Life include:
Malden Food Pantry Tuesday through Friday, 12-5pm at 54 Eastern Ave., Malden Contact: info@breadoflifemalden.org, 781-397-0404
Everett Food Distribution Grab “N Go Every Thursday, in shifts: • Load truck 8-10 am at 54 Eastern Ave Malden • Unload truck 10am-12pm at Lafayette School, 117 Edith St., Everett • Assemble food bags 12-3pm at Lafayette School • Give out groceries 3-5pm at Lafayette School • Clean up and load truck 5-6pm at Lafayette School • Unload and shelve food 6-8pm at 54 Eastern Ave Malden Contact: tcandidobol@gmail.com, 781-281-8302
Grocery Delivery Program to senior citizens, disabled and self-isolating residents: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 54 Eastern Ave., Malden Prep grocery orders 12-4pm Deliver groceries 3:30-6:30pm Contact: delivery@breadoflifemalden.org For more information visit www.breadoflifemalden.org.
https://publizr.com/advocatenewsma/malden-advocate-06-slash-12-slash-20?html=true#/4/
http://www.maldenhomepage.com/news-around-malden.aspx?post=1719&title=Past-Bread-of-Life-Executive-Director
I spent parts of two distribution days at Bread of Life's emergency food pantry. I asked volunteers and staff two questions: "What moved you to be involved? and "What inspires you to be involved during this pandemic?" Avery, Katie, Eric, Terri, Dorian, Nikki, Liz and Karen offered thoughtful responses, including:
"I'm not working. School is closed until September. I want to help others in need."
"I want to make a positive difference. Bread of Life has been doing this as long as I remember."
"I'm in a position where I am able to do something meaningful to help others."
"I want to do something good for others in need."
"I've always worked in social service. It's part of who I am."
"When I struggled to make ends meet a few years ago, Bread of Life kept me and my family afloat. Now I get to do the same for others."
"Helping others makes me feel good."
Although their choices of words were different, their answers were the same: I want to help others." McKay Russo, BOIL's Pantry Coordinator, states that the pantry has been offering as many as 185 free food orders. Each contains a minimum of 4 bags, nearly 40 pounds of quality food - double what the pantry was doing before COVID-19.
Karen Buck said "Now I benefit from meeting other dedicated people and learning new skills. I am hooked!"
According to Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, "BOL initiated a free grocery delivery service to seniors, disabled and residents who need to self-isolate. Volunteers have delivered to 320 households in 10 communities, including yours."
A teenaged boy who has been volunteering with BOL's Pantry for two years, "I like being part of a team doing good things." Although BOL's income has grown, it has not doubled. The pandemic hit just as they were ramping up their "Under One Roof" capital campaign. The goals are to develop the 54 Eastern Avenue site to include a commercial kitchen, dining room, storage for food and supplies, walk in cooler and freezer, and offices. BOL's development project will include efficiency apartments to house 14 single women and men leaving homelessness.
Katie summed it up best: "I want to give hope."
We are living in and through challenging times. Jobs disappear. Schools close. Bills go unpaid. People choose between paying full rent or buying food. Lives can fall apart. Much seems hopeless.
Not so at Bread of Life.
Thomas J. Feagley
Advocate Newspapers
May 22, 2020
By Barbara Taormina
MALDEN - Bread of Life will mark its 40th anniversary in Malden this year. For the past four decades, the nondenominational faith-based organization has been running a food pantry and offering dinner and hospitality to individuals and families in need through an evening meals program. Over the years, Bread of Life has been shuffled around to different church basements and rec halls in old city buildings. Volunteers have even served meals from the back of a truck when no other space was available.
“We’ve been very resilient about moving around,” said Bread of Life Development Director Patty Kelly. “We just keep rolling along.” That ability to adapt and use all available resources to get the job done no doubt came in handy over the past several months as Bread of Life faced a spike in the number of people reaching out for help as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis.
“Demand has more than doubled,” said Bread of Life Executive Director Gabriella Snyder Stelmack. “We’re working on getting more food and a bigger truck.”
Back in March, Bread of Life’s food pantry at 45 Eastern Ave. was providing groceries for about 80 households. By the end of April, the organization was stocking kitchen shelves for 185 households.
Stelmack said that up to 80 percent of the people now coming to the food pantry are new to Bread of Life and the idea of reaching out to a food pantry for help. “We’ve completely jettisoned all registration procedures,” said Stelmack. “If you’re in need and you come here, we will serve you.”
Bread of Life’s evening meal program has temporarily changed to a grab-and-go boxed meal program at the First Baptist Church. Back in March, an average of about 70 people would come for dinner. Now, roughly 120 people are stopping every night to pick up a meal. “Anyone is welcome,” said Kelly. “You come through and get a meal and off you go.”
Bread of Life has also expanded its delivery program and is now dropping off hundreds of boxes of groceries each month to people who are self-isolating, elderly or disabled. “The boxes are packed by volunteers and delivered by volunteers,” said Stelmack.
Bread of Life has always depended on volunteer power to run its different programs. But when the coronavirus shut everything down in the middle of March, people who volunteered with groups organized by churches, civic organizations and businesses were also shut down. “We were scrambling for a while, but eventually people who were temporarily laid off started to show up to help,” said Stelmack. “The response has been tremendous.”
Stelmack also said that people seem more confident about their ability to protect their health with face masks, hand sanitizers and social distancing. “Everybody has concerns but overriding that is the concern for people who are the most vulnerable and the hardest hit by COVID-19,” she said.
“The frontline staff has been incredible,” added Kelly, “We keep adding new programs and they keep going.”
Malden and the surrounding communities are also coming through with all types of much-needed and much-appreciated donations. Stelmack said some people will phone in a substantial takeout order from a local restaurant and have it delivered to Bread of Life.
“A woman just donated meals from the Dockside restaurant,” said Stelmack. “We packaged them up and handed them out.” Other restaurants just send food over. Pisa Pizza is known for delivering stacks of pizzas, and Townline Luxury Lanes recently reached out with trays and trays of food.
“Restaurants are struggling but despite that they are still cooking meals and donating,” said Kelly.
Individual residents are also coming through with donations of home-cooked meals.
Although the past several months have been a non-stop challenge, Bread of Life staff will keep pushing forward. “When you are faced with adverse circumstances, you learn from the hardship and find new ways of doing things,” said Stelmack.
Bread of Life hopes to soon have an entirely new way of doing things with its Under One Roof project, which will combine 14 units of affordable housing with a new kitchen, food pantry and dining room on the site of its current building on Eastern Avenue. Metro North Housing Corporation is funding and managing the housing portion of the project. Bread of Life is fundraising to cover the cost of the remainder of the facility. “We’re almost there; we have about $1 million left to raise,” said Kelly. “We feel very optimistic that we will be celebrating 40 years and a new beginning with a groundbreaking in November.”
Although Stelmack takes pride in Bread of Life’s ability to adjust to situations and make do, she feels it is time for the organization to have a new home in a proper space. “It’s time finally,” she said. “We’ve always been able to adapt and serve. With this project, we’ll be able to adapt and thrive.”
—For more information about Bread of Life or to make a donation to the food pantry or the Under One Roof project, go to http://www.breadoflifemalden.org/.
Malden Chamber Showcase, Malden Access TV, hosted by Lisa O’Laughlin, on 4/23/19 featuring interview with BOL’s Gabriella Snyder Stelmack and Patty Kelly.
Exelon Generation donates $5K to Bread of Life
Exelon Generation employees volunteered twice during the month of April at the Bread of Life Everett Food Pantry to help Everett families in need of food assistance.
Employees volunteered to help offload tons of food from the Bread of Life truck and to make up grocery orders. In addition, Exelon Generation, the owners of the Mystic power plant in Everett, presented a check for $5,000 to Bread of Life to help provide groceries and prepared meals for struggling residents of Everett and nine surrounding communities. This gift will provide the equivalent of about 10,000 meals to area residents because of Bread of Life’s ability to leverage a tremendous amount of food donations and volunteer labor.
“Strengthening the communities in which we operate is very important to us,” said Archie Gleason, Northeast Region general manager of Exelon Generation. “Exelon Generation is pleased to support the important mission of Bread of Life, they help nourish those most in-need with their food pantries in Everett and neighboring communities.”
In 2019, Bread of Life celebrates 27 years as an incorporated nonprofit helping neighbors in need. From its beginnings as a church potluck supper in 1980, Bread of Life now provides over 1 million meals per year to neighbors who are low-income, unemployed, homeless, senior citizens and disabled.
“We greatly appreciate Exelon Generation’s support, both for their generous donation and their strong volunteers,” said Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, deputy director. “Most of our funding comes from the generosity of individuals, businesses, organizations, faith communities and foundations, along with the proceeds of our annual Golf Tournament and Walk for Bread and 5K Run.”
As a faith-based nonprofit organization located in Malden, Bread of Life brings together over 500 volunteers from its 45 partner organizations to provide meals four nights per week in Malden; food pantries serving residents of Malden, Everett, Medford, Melrose, Saugus, Stoneham, Reading, North Reading, Wakefield and Winchester; grocery delivery to senior citizens in public housing in Malden, Everett, Melrose and Medford; and food delivery to homeless families sheltered in local motels.
Bread of Life awarded $400,000 over 10 years from Cummings Foundation Sustaining Grants, May 16, 2019
Bread of Life, a community based nonprofit food distribution organization serving Malden and several surrounding communities, was recently awarded a $400,000 sustaining grant from the Cummings Foundation.
Bread of Life is one of 50 organizations selected to share $15 million in grants over the next 10 years.
The grant was awarded to Bread of Life to continue to increase access to nutritious and culturally-appropriate food for diverse and marginalized low-income families and empower populations being served who can then participate in the operation and decision-making process of the food pantry.
Executive Director Gabriella Snyder Stelmack and Development Director Patty Kelly represented Bread of Life at a May 2 Awards Night at Trade Center in Woburn.
“The Cummings Foundation, Bill Cummings and the many volunteers, are extraordinary,” said Stelmack. “They not only fund specific projects, but make a serious long-term investment in us, building our capacity and helping ensure that our communities continue to prosper as a result.”
Sustaining grant organizations were selected by a volunteer committee, including Committee Chair Paul Lohnes.
“The organization is a magical combination of a veteran executive director, a fully committed board, hundreds of dedicated volunteers and resilient and grateful clients,” said Lohnes. “Bread of Life feeds bodies and souls.”
The Greater Boston Food Bank released its 2018 Tiering score report and Bread of Life once again falls into the tiering category of the highest 10% of scores: Strategic Partner.
Each GBFB member agency is compared with the 295 other GBFB partner organizations operating food pantries within the categories listed in the report. With a total of 157 possible points, Strategic Partners earned a score of 123 or higher, Community Partners scored between 105 and 122, and Distribution Partners earned a score of up to 104. The average score was 66. Bread of Life's score was 135 based on the information GBFB collected in fiscal year 2017 (10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017).
All organizations operating food pantries that are member agencies of GBFB and have been receiving food from GBFB for at least 10 months are evaluated within the below categories and scored based on how they compare to their peers within those categories. This year, the tiering structure remains largely unchanged and so scores from this year can be reasonably compared to last year to determine your organization’s movement within the network.
Organizations that receive the highest 10% of scores are classified as “Strategic Partners”; those that received the next highest 10% of scores are classified as “Community Partners” and the remaining 80% of organizations are classified as “Distribution Partners”. Each organization, regardless of tier, plays a vital role in relieving hunger in Eastern MA and the GBFB values each partnership.
Below is how BOL ranked in the different categories:
Bread of Life on NECN:
Bread of Life recently earned a spot on GreatNonProfits.org's 2016 Top-Rated List! Bread of Life is now featured on greatnonprofit.org/bread-of-life-2. The official 2016 Top-Rated list will be announced after October 31st.
Bread of Life and the American Legion post 69 have teamed up to serve meals on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Read more here
