Great Barrington — Since 2009, the Berkshire South Regional Community Center, located at 15 Crissey Rd., has offered community suppers to residents in need.
According to Community Center Executive Director Jenise Lucey, the center used to serve community suppers in person weekly. However, due to the pandemic, starting in the summer of 2021 the Center has served suppers every other Monday. In an email to The Berkshire Edge, Lucey wrote that during the winter months, meals have been made available in a “to go” model, served at a curbside pickup to be taken home for residents. “While this does shift the focus of the program from the community engagement we so embrace, the primary mission of addressing food insecurity in our community is ensured,” Lucey wrote. “We provide a free meal to 125 community members bi-weekly year-round. The meal is prepared by volunteer chefs from area restaurants, as well as community cooks, which is served by a team of ever-increasing volunteers.”
She wrote that the program has served over 3,000 meals a year to 600 residents. “Community chefs and some of the best restaurants in the Berkshires volunteer their time to make the meals,” Lucey wrote. “In addition, the volunteers that help us execute the meals are deeply dedicated to the program. From what they share with us, it is a gift to be able to help support a program that directly impacts the lives of those in our community who need added help. Our volunteers not only bond together but have the opportunity to make connections on an ongoing basis with community members who are eager to minimize the isolation they feel in our rural communities.”
Lucey wrote that various local companies and organizations have provided financial support to make the community suppers possible over the years. “Greylock Federal Credit Union has been a tremendous supporter for years,” Lucey wrote. “In addition, we’ve received dedicated funding from the Jewish Women’s Foundation and Fallon Health. Ongoing support from restaurants has made it possible to prepare the volume of food that we have including The Marketplace Kitchen, Baba Louie’s, Kripalu, Mama Lo’s Community Chefs, Hank Ferlauto, Janet Elsbach, Mitch Hamilton, Neil Fox, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Price Chopper, and Big Y.”
Lucey wrote that the idea behind the program is to “simultaneously help alleviate food insecurity in our region and also provide an opportunity to create community among a diverse group of people.” She explained, “Weekly attendees include those who are food insecure as well as older people, individuals with special needs who live in area group homes, families with young children, and people for whom a meal out would present a financial hardship. The benefit of the suppers to the community is multi-faceted: receiving high-quality, nutritious food free of charge, socialization, and human connection, healthy intergenerational interactions, and volunteerism.”
For more information about Berkshire South Regional Community Center’s community supper program, including its schedule, call 413-528-2810, or go to its Facebook page. More information can also be found on the Community Center’s website.
