Great Barrington — While sharing the bounty at Thanksgiving is a longstanding tradition, rising prices at grocery stores across the country have left many families struggling to put food on the table this holiday season. In response to the growing need, volunteers at local nonprofit organization The People’s Pantry gave residents some holiday hope by distributing food for Thanksgiving to those in need on Tuesday, November 25.
All throughout the morning, 30 volunteers helped put together and distribute Thanksgiving meals for more than 400 Berkshire County residents.
The People’s Pantry opened in 1999 to provide healthy food to a growing number of South Berkshire County residents facing food insecurity. The People’s Pantry has operated out of Saint James Place at 5 Taconic Avenue since 2017, opening its doors on Mondays and Thursdays to provide fresh and non-perishable food, meat and dairy items, and personal care products to residents and families in need.
According to People’s Pantry Program Operations leader Kai Cimmino, the organization planned its Thanksgiving food distribution in early October. Over the past two months, the organization accepted food donations from over 20 local organizations, including Greenagers, Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, and Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, along with other businesses and residents throughout Berkshire County.
On the morning of November 25, 30 volunteers scrambled to get everything ready for residents who lined up outside the door.
“The outpouring of help from this community has been unprecedented,” organization Vice President of Operations Silke Aisenbrey told The Berkshire Edge. “We had a lot of local businesses that came forward for the first time to help us in the last few weeks. We also had a lot of individual donations from people we have not seen before. It means a lot that we have had so many people help us.”
Last year, the organization served 290 families for Thanksgiving, and this year, they are planning for more than 400. “By the last week in October this year, we were up more than 49 percent over the number of families we served a year ago,” Aisenbrey noted. “People are so worried they won’t have food.”
The idea of collecting pie donations to complete the Thanksgiving dinners was conceived two years ago when volunteers Sherri Gorelick and Leslie Miller were brainstorming ways to help. Both Gorelick and Miller enlisted volunteers to bake pies and then sold them, raising $1,000 for the organization. Gorelick came up with the concept of “Pie for All”—a not-for-the-feint-of-heart campaign to enlist the community to provide 400 pies. “Everyone needs pie!” Gorelick said of the efforts. Both Gorelick and Miller sent out emails, printed posters, and talked to friends.
Over time, several organizations became involved in the project, including members of the Hevreh congregation who gathered to bake together. The baking was organized by Hevreh’s Director of Congregational Learning and Engagement Beth Robbins and Pastries by Hanna owner Hanna Rybolt, who baked 28 pies paid for by community members via a link on her website. Gorelick estimated the group collected over 250 pies.
While Aisenbrey was happy to see the community coming together to help out residents in need during the holiday season, she emphasized that the need is great year round. “I hope that people will not forget about The People’s Pantry, because the need is not going to go away anytime soon,” she said. “We still need people’s help in January, February, March, and all the other months, because people need help all year long, and things are not going to get better anytime soon.”
For more information about The People’s Pantry, visit their website.
Additional reporting by Robbi Hartt.
