From the Pantry’s inception in 1984 as an emergency food pantry in St Paul’s church the pantry evolved to meet the town’s needs by becoming a permanent food pantry in 2003 and now serving over 800 households a week along with an average of more than 400 K-8 every weekend during the school year with Thrives. Our clients represent a varied demographic from different backgrounds and age groups; including longtime residents and new residents all with different accessibility needs, diets, and schedules which we strive to assist and deliver nourishing food to.
Our Story
Brookline, a town with some of the highest priced single family homes in the state of Massachusetts struggles with food insecurity. due to the exacerbated cost of living of $100,000
As Francis Moore Lappé founder of Food First describes: hunger is not just a resource issue but also one of civic engagement (Lappé, 2008). Through direct action, community work, and civic engagement we put forth our best effort to ensure none of our Brookline neighbors go hungry.
In 1984, after conversations among the clergy in Brookline regarding aid for the food insecure, it was decided to invite school social workers and front-line Town services to work together to address the problem. St. Paul’s was suggested for a location and, following Vestry approval, the first iteration of the Brookline Food Pantry was established as the “Brookline Emergency Food Pantry.” Other congregations worked together to collect and deliver canned and dried food along with helping to promote the Pantry in the community. This version of the Pantry did not have any volunteers or workers except the rector, secretary, and sexton of the St. Paul’s parish.
compared to the 100 volunteers we have across our three locations today.
In October of 2003, the pantry at St. Paul applied to be a member of the Greater Boston Food Bank. After receiving membership we were able to offer more products, purchase food, and more easily distribute to those in need throughout our community. In December of 2014, the Pantry incorporated itself as a 501(c)3. We chose to drop the word “Emergency” from our name as our organization supplied a consistent and stable food source for those in need.
According to the most recent Brookline Community Foundation report surveying economic inequality only 10.2%, or 6,380 Brookline residents live below the poverty level. The poverty line is not an accurate reflection of the standard of living which is reflected in the findings of this report with 24%,or 14,000, facing economic along with 25% of individuals are considered housing burdened (spend 30% or more of their income on housing which can be detrimental to building wealth in the longer term). Although these statistics represent Brookline today the pantry has been needing to compensate for a rise in inequality within the town to meet community needs. The Pantry would go on to open its second site, 55A Egmont Street in May of 2015 and its third site, 226 High Street, in April 2020. These two new pickup sites are located in community rooms within the housing developments that are managed by Brookline Housing Authority (BHA) to supply residents’ needs. In the summer of 2021, the pantry saw that it had outgrown St. Paul’s and moved to a larger accommodation at United Parish on Harvard Street. Today we are actively engaging with the town government, other local non-profits, businesses and individuals in fighting food insecurity through integrating our work with theirs. We are focused on creating new and beneficial ways to ensure our Brookline neighbors are not going hungry but are nourished through offering culturally relevant, nutritious foods when possible that are available to all that live in Brookline. If you are interested in volunteering learn more here or donate to our mission here.
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