BERNARDSTON — State Sen. Jo Comerford joined town officials and volunteers Monday to distribute 100 Thanksgiving meals at the Bernardston Senior Center.
Amid the lasting pandemic, seniors and families across the state have been faced with economic hardship as they enter the holidays, with Comerford noting that food insecurity has been a topic of interest in the state Legislature. In the face of these challenges, the Bernardston Senior Center has set an example as a rallying community entity, providing food to seniors through LifePath and other donations.
“It’s very humbling to need food,” Senior Center Director Hayley Bolton said.
Recipients received turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, milk and pumpkin pie to enjoy at home this holiday. LifePath, which also supplies food for the Senior Center’s weekly meal service, provided food, Bolton said. In addition, volunteers made apple crisp as a special dessert, and gave cheese and crackers as an extra side.
“The homemade apple crisps help to make it a little more festive,” said Melissa Stetson, fiscal officer for the Senior Center.
Comerford, D-Northampton, said she was grateful to join Senior Center staff and volunteers in the brisk air Monday, handing out roughly 100 holiday-themed meals. Comerford said addressing food insecurity has been a major focus of hers since taking office. She is a Senate co-chair of the Massachusetts Food System Caucus, a member of the statewide Food Policy Council and was appointed to the governor’s Food Security Task Force.
“Food security is a critical need for our region,” Comerford said. “It’s also at the intersection with farming where it becomes a triple win when we can get it right.”
Properly addressing food security would provide food to those who are in need, she said, and could provide economic development potential for the region.
“But today was straight-up about providing good nutritious food as the pandemic and economic crisis rages on,” Comerford said on Monday’
She said the volunteers’ “spirit was really unmatched” at the Bernardston Senior Center Monday, as they greeted familiar faces and passed food into their vehicles. Working as a well-oiled machine, it took just over 20 minutes for the team to hand out more than 80 meals to the vehicles that had lined up at noon. The remaining recipients continued to arrive throughout the hour, or previously made arrangements for delivery drop-off.
The Senior Center has been holding a monthly drive-thru pop-up food pantry. In July, Bernardston reallocated $4,000 of surplus funds from the town’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) revolving loan fund to support the pop-up pantry. The Nov. 18 pantry saw the Senior Center provide 120 meals to previously signed-up seniors, along with Thanksgiving-themed side dishes.
“We have an amazing group of volunteers,” Bolton said. “They’re all very dedicated and they all just want the seniors to have fun.”
During Monday’s meal service, volunteers also sold hundreds of dollars worth of tickets for the upcoming Senior Center raffle. Tickets, which cost $5, can be purchased between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or mailed to your door. The drawing starts Thursday and will continue daily through Dec. 25. With questions, call 413-834-7200.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.