Two Thursdays per month, Home City Development, Inc. (HCDI) hosts a Mobile Food Pantry from The Food Bank of Western Mass on Halsey Street. It is because of dedicated volunteers from HCDI’s Liberty Hill Townhouse development that this site is successful in serving the local community. One of seven Mobile Food Bank locations throughout the City of Springfield, this site has been active for eight years, and some residents have been volunteering at this location just as long.
“Whether it’s sleeting, snowing, or 100 degrees, they show up,” Carol Soules, manager of Resident Engagement at HCDI explained of the volunteers. “The implementation of the site could not happen without these volunteers. Even through the pandemic they have been faithful in showing up and making sure that this food is available to their neighbors.” She went on to explain that some Mobile Food Bank sites had to shut down due to the pandemic and resulting lack of volunteers. The locations that remained open have been overwhelmed with people.
The Halsey street food truck serves Liberty residents as well as the local area. Twice a month, the volunteers show up and work for two hours sorting, bagging, and handing out groceries. In 2019, through the Halsey Mobile Food Truck, $180,000 worth of food was distributed to those in need.
On Thursday June 11th, the volunteers were recognized for their hard work and dedication. State Representative Carlos Gonzalez honored them with official proclamations from the Massachusetts Legislature, praising the “Exemplary record of service and volunteerism in the neighborhood.”
“We always want to recognize volunteerism [especially during the pandemic],” Gonzalez said, “We too often hear about all the bad that goes on in the city and the communities. We rarely have an opportunity to recognize the folks who give their time back to the community. Particularly when it is their own community.”
The celebrated volunteers included Pedro Ayala, Victor Cortez, Margarita Laboy, Nereida Luzano, Sarah Negron, Ramon Nieves, Ramon Rivera and Carmen Padilla.
This mobile food truck is one piece of a larger initiative, “Food Access and Food Equity,” led by HCDI Resident Engagement. United Way funds an ongoing food pantry based on individual needs of residents and families. The Tapley Community Garden provides organic produce to the community, as well as educational and work programs for HCDI teen youth leaders on food justice and urban gardening. NOFA Mass (Northeast Organic Farming Association), and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund are HCDI’s partners in this project.
Just before the awards ceremony (and another round of sorting, bagging, and distributing) on that rainy day on Halsey street, we asked the volunteers why they were dedicated to this service. Negron mentioned that she and Ayala started to volunteer eight years ago when this food truck location was first set up. The reason why? She simply stated that she likes to help out.
Cortez explained, “I want to…help people when they need it…They know me, they know I can help them [and that makes me feel good]…I’m communicating with them so they can feel comfortable [and not] insecure.”
And Luzano reiterated, “It makes me feel good…I like to help everybody.”