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We did it! Capital campaign fully funded

Interfaith Staff Photo
Our new larger-capacity refrigerated truck.

We’re excited to announce that our 2018 Capital Campaign has been fully funded!

Our generous donors contributed more than $165,000 to help us expand capacity in the food pantry and New Directions Counseling Center.

In the past decade, the number of food pantry clients we’ve seen in need of food assistance has climbed from 10,000 per year to more than 23,000. In the same time period, the New Directions Counseling Center went from providing 1,900 counseling sessions to more than 2,500 sessions per year. As programs have expanded, the need for facility improvements became apparent.

Funds will be allocated to:

  • A Walk-In Freezer – an energy-efficient walk-in freezer will replace a set of aging and inefficient freezers, cutting energy bills and doubling storage space for frozen meats and foods.
  • A New Food Pantry Truck – we’ve purchased a larger capacity refrigerated truck that doubles the amount of food we can rescue at local grocery stores. It also decreases the number of rescue trips needed, saving time and gas.
  • Office Reconfiguration – counseling offices will be soundproofed and moved to avoid distractions from the food pantry. Two larger offices will be divided to create more unique spaces for therapy sessions.
  • Facilities Improvements – flooring will be replaced in high traffic areas, light fixtures will be switched out with energy efficient fixtures, and adjustments will be made to the lobby to improve accessibility and flow.

HarborOne Bank President Joe Casey (right) presents Interfaith’s Executive Director Rick Doane with a $30,000 grant from the HarborOne Foundation for a new walk-in freezer in the food pantry.

Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation presented a $25,000 partnership grant to Interfaith Social Services for their 2018 Capital Campaign. Eastern Bank, America’s oldest and largest mutual bank, gives 10 percent of its net income to charity each year. Shown here, left to right, Eastern Bank Senior Vice President Don Uvanitte, Eastern Bank Branch Managers Donna Kelble and Terry Bellotti-Palmieri, and Interfaith Executive Director Rick Doane.

Jonathan Tetrault, left, Senior Director of Distribution Services at Greater Boston Food Bank, presented Interfaith with a $25,000 check in January to help us purchase a new larger, refrigerated food rescue truck.
Also pictured: Interfaith Executive Director Rick Doane, Food Pantry Driver Geoff Bowen and Food Pantry Manager Eileen Kelly.

Thank you so much to the following donors (and also to those who gave anonymously) who gave so generously to help us reach our goal:

Interfaith’s employees celebrate the success of the capital campaign in the back of their new food rescue truck. Purchased with the campaign funds, the new refrigerated truck will allow them make more efficient runs and collect twice as much food for hungry South Shore families. Shown in back row, Food Pantry Driver Geoff Bowen. Front row, left to right, Food Pantry Manager Eileen Kelly, Development Director Paula Daniels and Communications Manager Jennifer Sammons.

HarborOne Bank
Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
Greater Boston Food Bank
James Cahill & Gillian Grossman
Kurt & Sarah Livermore
Lauren Payne & William Swanson
First Congregational Church of Milton
Sarah & Scott Alessandro
Mary & Thomas Dinneen
Rockland Trust
South Shore Bank
Holly & Joseph Andrus
Joanne Cormack
Bethesda Lodge No. 30 I.O.O.F.
Ethel Schow
Judith Gundersen
Justine & Ralph Palmieri
Jay & Gail Marvin
Maureen & John O’Donnell
Kevin & Cristina Duggan
George Rice
Elaine Joseph
Maggie Trudel
Karissa Colonel
Mary Ann & Robert Skjold
Evan Smith
William Carlson
Joanne Farrington
Cara Gallucci
Liz Tayne
Mark Pachelli
Michael Burke

Congratulations to Leighann Zemp, our February Volunteer of the Month

Leigh Ann

Leighann is a volunteer in the Bureau Drawer, where she helps out in the sorting room and assists in the shop. She’s been a wonderful addition to the shop since 2009 (nearly a decade!). You’ll recognize her by her distinctive laugh and her tiny Chihuahua, Chewy, who she brings to Interfaith once a month to have his nails trimmed by a fellow volunteer.

Cindy says:
“Leighann has been volunteering in the shop two days a week for 10 years. She’s hardworking and dedicated to our fundraising mission.

When she comes in the atmosphere totally changes. She’s friendly, busy and very outspoken. Customers, donors and volunteers love her so much and it’s noticed if she happens to be out on one of her days. They all ask where she is.

Leighann always has animated stories to tell and she helps everyone have a great experience when they shop. She helps them find the perfect outfit or anything else they never knew they needed! She puts her magic touch in the shop whether it’s a special display, dressing a mannequin or cleaning and making the shop shine. It’s always something.

Leighann has a big heart and we’re very grateful she’s a volunteer at Interfaith.”

Chewy celebrates his birthday with a doggie cupcake.

We asked Leighann 4 Questions:

  1. Why did you choose to volunteer at Interfaith?

A former volunteer, Chickie, asked me to volunteer with her. I did and I got hooked from there.

  1. What do you enjoy most about volunteering here?

I think all the friendships I’ve made. It’s like a sisterhood to me. I just love what Interfaith stands for.

  1. What’s the most memorable item you’ve seen come through the Thrift Shop?

There are several. I always remember that gorgeous plate we got. A crystal cake plate. We just loved it. And then it broke.

I got the most beautiful Christmas tree (from the Shop) two years ago. It was a 9 1/2 foot Christmas tree somebody donated. I walked in the shop and it was sitting there and it wasn’t even half up. I already had a Christmas tree at home. But I just loved that tree. This was on a Tuesday. And then Friday I come in and the tree was still there. I said, “Oh the tree is still here. I have to get it. I have to get it.” So I bought it. It’s gorgeous, and now I put it in my kitchen.

Also the unique people. There was a belly dancing girl. She’d belly dance in the shop in her bra and we’d all sit around and watch the show.

  1. Tell us something interesting about yourself that the other staff and volunteers may not know.

I really wanted to be an airline stewardess. Back when they were popular with the little outfits and everything. I even went to school for it down in Miami. But it didn’t work out.

I’ve also been married for 36 years. I’ve been with my husband since we were in junior high. He was my first boyfriend and I was his first girlfriend. I was a cheerleader and I used to cheer for him. He was a football player. He drove me home on his little Mongoose bike. We’re still together.

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Know someone who may be interested in volunteering? Have them reach out to volunteer coordinator Paula Daniels at 617-773-6203 ext. 28 or pdaniels@interfaithsocialservices.org.

Wastin’ Away

Now that we’re all stuffed full of Thanksgiving leftovers, let’s take a minute to talk about food waste. A UN study reported than nearly a third of food produced for human consumption never reached the table. That’s astonishing!

At Interfaith, one of our main goals is to rescue food from the waste stream and get it into the hands of those that need it most. We do this through our food rescue program, partnering with local retail stores such as Stop & Shop, Big Y World Class Market, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Roche Bros – Quincy, Roxie’s of Quincy, Target Braintree, Amazon and more.

Food from these stores that would otherwise be hitting Dumpsters is loaded into our rescue van on a weekly basis and sorted and shelved by volunteers at our food pantry.

With these partnerships, we rescued more than 325,000 pounds of food last year!

While we’re doing our part to minimize food waste on a larger scale, there is still much work that can be done by individuals. Here’s an interesting article from the The Boston Globe about trying to cut down on food waste at home.

What tips can you share on ways to reduce waste at home?

Host a Fall Food Drive supporting Interfaith!

The months of November and December are the busiest months for our food pantry. This time of year we struggle to keep basic necessities stocked for our clients.

Starting this week we kick off our fall food drive. This is not a drive for Thanksgiving food, but rather a time to restock our shelves and make sure that clients have meals on their tables for the entire holiday season. While we will provide Thanksgiving meal packages to more than 1,000 households over the coming weeks, this particular food drive is necessary to keep our shelves stocked with the essentials.

On Sunday, Nov. 18, from 11am–2pm, we will be hosting a special in-gathering of food at our office in Quincy.

We would sincerely appreciate it if you would organize a food drive for your church, business or organization for this drive. Our volunteers will be on hand Nov. 18 to help unload cars as they arrive here.

We depend on support from the community to feed the thousands of people who turn to us every year for assistance and we hope that you will join with us this Thanksgiving season to feed our neighbors in need. Can’t donate food? Monetary donations are also welcome: https://interfaithsocialservices.org/donate/

Food items that are needed:
Tuna
Canned meat
Cereal or oatmeal
Peanut butter & jelly
Healthy snacks for kids
Juice boxes
Shelf-stable milk
Rice
Canned soup
Mac & Cheese
Pasta & sauce
Canned fruit or vegetables
Dry or canned beans
Condiments (incl. salt & pepper)
Salad dressing
Gluten-free foods
Low-sodium canned items
Cooking oil / Olive oil
Diapers (size 4, 5 & 6), baby wipes
Personal care items: toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap (unscented), shampoo, body wash

All items must have ingredient labels with current expiration dates.

Print a Food Drive sign (PDF) to hang on your collection box.

Halloween Costume Drive is a wrap!

Happy Halloween! Halloween kicks off a busy holiday season here at Interfaith  – not only do we see a significant uptick in clients, but we’re preparing for distribution of Thanksgiving meals, running food drives, prepping for holiday gift distribution and planning for our big fundraiser, the Feed the Hungry Gala.

With all these things going on, it feels good to check Halloween off the list! We had an amazingly successful costume drive this year. Countless individuals and businesses donated costumes or held drives at their organizations. It is because of these folks that this program is possible and the families that benefit are so thankful.

Our Halloween costume distribution day on Oct. 20 was a blast. We set up a tent in our back parking lot (donated by DPS Insurance Group – thank you!) and had racks and racks of terrific costumes available for families to browse.

Several of our regular volunteers spent weeks sorting through all the donations and organizing them so that distribution day would go smoothly. Thank you, volunteers!

We had about a dozen volunteer families assist with distribution day, including a whole bunch of kids. Volunteers stuffed goody bags, handed out snacks, and helped clients navigate the racks of costumes. This is one of my favorite volunteer opportunities and I love that our kids are able to jump in and give back to the community along with their parents. The kids love helping clients pick out costumes.

Volunteer families helped distribution day flow smoothly.

After clients chose their perfect costumes, they headed over to a decorated wall (thank you Charlene, from the Bureau Drawer Thrift Shop, for setting up a frightening display!) to take photos and pick up goody bags. Christine Hurley of Hurley Event Photography once again captured the joy and excitement of the day in her adorable photos.

Charlene sets up the photo wall and pumpkin patch with items from out Bureau Drawer Thrift Shop.

Stop & Shop’s Marketing department was also kind enough to donate 50 large pumpkins, which we displayed in a pumpkin patch. Client families were able to select one to take home for jack-o-lantern carving!

We want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s event, especially the following groups who help costume drives:

Carol Trombetta of South Shore Medical Center drops off one of several carloads of costumes from a drive she held.

And thank you to the Patriot Ledger, who did a fantastic article on the event with great photos!















 

Congratulations, Angela Ryan, our October Volunteer of the Month!

Angela Ryan, a morning food pantry volunteer and seasonal program helper, was nominated for her consistent willingness to go the extra mile.

Alongside preparing grocery orders for clients, Angela has also volunteered with several of our seasonal programs. This summer, she organized and separated supplies for Interfaith’s Backpack Program, which this year distributed backpacks and school supplies to more than 600 local children. She is also currently part of the team sorting and preparing costumes for our Halloween Costume Program, which will provide costumes to hundreds of children in need later this month.

Eileen had this to say about Angela:

“Angela has just been a delight to work with and is more than a valuable addition to our wonderful team of volunteers. She arrives every day with a generous smile, upbeat attitude, ready joke, a willingness to do whatever task needs to be done and that charming Scottish brogue is a winner.

We have had some staffing challenges over the course of Angela’s time with us – what with vacations, work, school and family commitments. Every time we have put out a call for help with staffing Angela has been there. Thank you Angela!”

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Know someone who may be interested in volunteering? Have them reach out to volunteer coordinator Paula Daniels at 617-773-6203 ext. 28 or pdaniels@interfaithsocialservices.org.

Congratulations to Sarah Fong, our August Volunteer of the Month!

Sarah, left, with fellow Friday volunteer, Kathy.

Sarah Fong, a morning food pantry volunteer since April 2016, was nominated by her fellow Friday volunteers for going above and beyond assisting our Chinese-speaking clients.

Volunteers Jean and Len had this to say about Sarah:

“As with all volunteer groups, there is always one who stands out demonstrating kindness, generosity, humor and a strong willingness to help others. This is Sarah Fong.

Her unselfish attitude is most evident when the Chinese clients of Interfaith, who don’t speak fluent English, come in to be helped.  All of the Friday crew rely on Sarah.   While we’re happy to fill the clients’ orders,  Sarah is the one who tells us what they want and don’t want.  On Friday morning, it’s not unusual to hear ‘Sarah,  I need your help.’  She will stop whatever she’s doing to help us and, most important, the Chinese clients of Interfaith.  She’s very good at juggling us!

Sarah’s unselfish contribution, along with the appreciation of the Chinese clients she helps, makes Sarah an outstanding Interfaith volunteer.  Simply put, Sarah is a joy to work with.”

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Know someone who may be interested in volunteering? Have them reach out to volunteer coordinator Paula Daniels at 617-773-6203 ext. 28 or pdaniels@interfaithsocialservices.org.

New Volunteer Opportunity

Looking for an evening volunteer opportunity?

We are extending our food pantry hours to include Wednesday evenings and are in need of volunteers.

General Job Description: Provide quality customer service to those needing our assistance and those donating to us; pack groceries for distribution to clients according to the individual need of each household; organize, sort and stock donated food items, including loading and unloading of vans, freezers and shelves.
Skills Needed: Excellent customer service and communication skills; the ability to handle the stress of a labor intensive job – our food pantry can serve up to 50 households in one food pantry shift; the ability to stand, walk, bend and lift for the duration of the 3-hour shift; the ability to uphold our standards of client confidentiality; prior experience working in a grocery store and knowledge of food pantry operations helpful, but not required; ability to translate Mandarin or Cantonese very helpful.
Hours: Wednesdays 4:30-7:30 pm
How to apply: Call or email Paula Daniels to schedule an interview (617-773-6203 x28 or pdaniels@interfaithsocialservices.org). All interested candidates must go through an interview process prior to volunteering with us.

Congratulations to Michelle Goldthwaite, our June Volunteer of the Month!

Michelle has been volunteering in the Bureau Drawer since Sept. 2015 and is in charge of posting high value or unusual donations to Interfaith’s eBay site.

Michelle researches a donated item before posting it to Interfaith’s eBay site.

Cindy says:
“Even though you may not see Michelle very often she is a dedicated team member in the thrift shop.  She spends a lot of her time researching, listing, monitoring, answering questions, closing out, packing and shipping select items on our eBay site.

These are donations from our community that we have decided will sell much better to a wider audience.  In the past year and a half since I started tracking sales, she has sold close to 150 of these various things to buyers across the country for about $7,500.

She comes to the shop once a week and collects things we have saved for her and takes them home and does her magic, making us money!

This also means she has made more than 150 trips to the post office – that in itself is amazing!”

We asked Michelle 4 Questions:

  1. Why did you choose to volunteer at Interfaith?

I started volunteering at Interfaith a few years ago because I loved the many different aspects of the mission, and how the organization can assist clients on so many levels, from food, to emergency, to holiday assistance, and so much more. I began volunteering in the thrift shop and then started selling higher value donated items online.

  1. What other volunteer experience have you had?

Before Interfaith, I had volunteered at Cradles to Crayons in Quincy for 8 years until they moved to Boston. I also worked in animal rescue, fostering, doing home visits and helping to place many dogs, as well as managing and administrating a Facebook page to promote shelter dogs.

  1. What do you enjoy most about volunteering here?

I really enjoy working with the people at Interfaith, and also researching some of the many interesting items that are donated before selling them online. I have sold everything from vintage teapots to 14k gold bracelets to cowboy boots. There are always new and interesting items that are donated.

  1. Tell us something interesting about yourself that the other staff and volunteers may not know.

I have 4 kids and 4 dogs!

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Know someone who may be interested in volunteering? Have them reach out to volunteer coordinator Paula Daniels at 617-773-6203 ext. 28 or pdaniels@interfaithsocialservices.org.

Record attendance & funds raised for the 2018 Stop the Stigma 5K

Wow! What an amazing day Saturday turned out to be. Record-breaking attendance, record-breaking fundraising totals, and perfect weather. A huge thank you to whoever ordered up the gorgeous sunshiny day for our Stop the Stigma 5K!

We had a crowd of more than 500 individuals, families and even some dogs at the 44th annual event. This number includes 366 race finishers and more than 70 volunteers. The race, held each spring at the Kennedy Center in North Quincy, gets families and individuals running and walking on a scenic race route as we try to break down stigmas surrounding mental health.

Participants run (or walk) in support of friends, family and neighbors living with mental illness or addiction. We raised more than $40,000 this year, funds that will go to Interfaith’s programs, including The New Directions Counseling Center. New Directions offers nonprofit counseling services on a sliding scale, ensuring that everyone is able to receive care regardless of their health insurance status or income.

We’ve heard so many moving stories in the last few weeks about how mental illness and addiction issues touch so many of our race participants, clients, friends and families. We hope that this event gets even more people talking about mental health and breaking down the stigmas surrounding it. Talk about it! Educate others! And get help for yourself and others when needed!

Saturday’s event included the race, which takes a winding route through Quincy’s Squantum neighborhood and along Boston Harbor, and a spirited post-run Family Fun Festival. Festivities included a delicious lunch, including pizza and subs donated by Balducci’s House of Pizza and Unchained Pizza, beverages from Polar Beverages and Ocean Spray and frozen treats donated by New England Ice Cream.

Following the 5K, kids took part in a Fun Run, Dave and Busters‘ Street Team had fun giveaways, WROR had out their prize wheel, and the kids exhausted their leftover energy on the bouncy house provided by Busy Bee Jumpers. Kaleidoscope Art & Entertainment decorated runners with air brush tattoos, Kids Party Productions made balloon creations and kids of all ages participated in face painting and the kids’ craft table, kindly organized by our race committee.

Big thank you’s to WROR’s Julie Devereaux for emceeing, NBC Boston’s Ally Donnelly for leading the Fun Run, and Quincy Police and Brewster Ambulance for their services.

This year we offered several ticketed games, with chances to win fun prizes such as toys and gift cards. And the always popular raffle sent winners away with restaurant gift cards, overnight hotel stays, sports memorabilia and much more.

We’re so grateful for support from the local businesses and individuals that help make the event possible, including backing from platinum-level sponsors Arbella Insurance Foundation, Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan and DST Systems, Inc., and gold-level sponsors Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Bank of Canton and Quincy College.

Our fantastic photographer, Christine Hurley of Hurley Event Photography, captured so many incredible images from the day. You’ll see several here and even more over on our Facebook page. Thank you, Christine!

Save the date for next year’s Stop the Stigma 5K: Saturday, April 27, 2019.

It’s never too late to support this cause! Donate Now.

 






















More photos on our facebook gallery.