If you are looking for a fun evening out in Newton, one that also raises money and awareness for Centre Street, then we have something for you! Join us on Friday April 4 for the 8th Annual Empty Bowls event at Lasell University. Empty Bowls is a worldwide event, created by a group of artists who wanted to engage their communities to raise money for food-related charities. Lasell students took up the cause to host the event to benefit Centre Street. The evening features a dinner of soup served in a hand-crafted ceramic bowl, as well as live music, speakers that include Boston University Professor Harold Cox, MPH (and Moth storyteller), a raffle and silent auction. If you’d like to donate an item for the auction or raffle, please email us and we’ll coordinate with the amazing Lasell students. The event runs from 4:30 to 7:00pm at de Witt Hall (80 Maple Street in Auburndale). Tickets are $20 and available at the door – and the ticket price includes one of the bowls. We hope to see you there!

The Newport Restaurant Group (NRG) has continued its support for Centre Street in 2025! We have received a generous donation of ($6,142) which was made possible because NRG donated $2.00 from every gift card purchase to “local food banks and area non-profits committed to building a sustainable and local food supply for those in need.” This year NRG donated over $71,000 to local organizations! We are impressed by NRG’s commitment to our community, and we ask that you show your support to them by visiting one of their restaurants nearby: Papa Razzi in Wellesley or Bar ‘Cino in Watertown or Brookline. Bar 'Cino General Manager Bryan Parkin (pictured here with Rose and Taylor) believes that providing a good environment for employees and taking care of the community through support of nonprofits is important. We welcome like-minded businesses and corporations to join the Centre Street community as supporters and partners; please contact board member Andy Levine to learn more.

We have great news to share about our food acquisition from the Greater Boston Food Bank. Due to the completion of their “cooler” project, which created several thousand square feet of space for more refrigeration at their facility in Boston, we are now able to receive more food from GBFB each month. Beginning in February, we will be receiving seven deliveries per month for a total of 66,000 pounds of food, a 30% increase in weight. We will be able serve more people and acquire more free produce and milk funded by MEFAP (Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program). We can then apply our food budget to sustain purchases of fresh sliced whole grain bread, additional produce, Kids Club foods, and personal care products, such as toothpaste and soap. We’re grateful for GBFB’s response to our request for more deliveries and their continued commitment to advocacy for food programs to end hunger in Massachusetts.

Many people have inquired as to whether Centre Street receives federal funding and/or anticipates a negative impact on hunger relief programs that we depend upon. Rose has been in many meetings with nonprofit leaders, GBFB leadership and government representatives to discuss the likelihood that essential programs will be at risk. The reality is they likely are at risk, as federal funding is the basis for many programs in the state of Massachusetts, such as school meals for children, Medicaid and more. The Massachusetts budget will be a tricky one to create and approve in 2025 so that it is balanced and continues to serve all in need. We need Massachusetts to sustain its commitment to MEFAP (the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program) at a level equal to 2024 ($41M) or higher. If you want to help make a difference so that our neighbors do not go hungry, a phone call or email telling your state senator that you support funding for MEFAP and other food relief programs will keep food security top of mind during budget discussions.

Every Tuesday we are ready to distribute 400 gallons of milk, 400 dozen eggs, 300 loaves of sliced bread, 1,770 pounds of frozen proteins, 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and over 450 grocery and Kids Club bags! Despite this astonishing amount of inventory, we sometimes do not have enough on hand to serve all the families who seek us out each week. It is heart wrenching to tell a family to return the next time we are open. This is often a hardship because a family may have little or nothing at home for that night’s dinner and breakfast the next day.

In thinking through what would be most helpful to people in this situation, we created a “breakfast bag” program. Each bag consists of fresh or shelf stable milk, eggs, sliced American cheese and a loaf of whole grain sliced bread. With the additional orders from GBFB and our ability to purchase from wholesalers, we can now acquire enough of these items. There is visible relief on our client’s faces when we offer this bag. One mother commented: “My kids are going to love having breakfast for dinner tonight!”

America may run on Dunkin’ but Centre Street Food Pantry runs on volunteers! In 2024, 350 generous, tireless and dedicated volunteers donated 7,650 hours of time. And all those hours were needed to fill the shifts in 60 service days last year, 10% more service days than in 2023. (The weather was on our side!) Plus, there were many volunteer “behind the scenes” hours for bag packing, unloading food from GBFB, breaking down boxes and more! In addition to our volunteers, we had 77 corporate sponsors in 2024 and we were the beneficiary of almost 100 food drives conducted by schools, companies, temples, churches, and other organizations. Great thanks to all who help us serve our many clients! If you’re looking for ways to get involved at Centre Street, we have some suggestions!