Jennifer Pickering, district director for state Sen. Jake Oliveira; Board of Directors President Judy Yaffee; state Rep. Brian Ashe; Executive Director Jodi Falk; Board member Ellen Gold and The Beveridge Family Foundation President Ward Caswell cut a ribbon in front of Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts’s new refrigerated box truck.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
LONGMEADOW — Jodi Falk, executive director of Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts, stood on the loading platform of a 16-foot, insulated box truck as it rose up into the air, celebrating the lives that it will improve.
Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts is a Longmeadow-based organization that rescues unsold and unused food and distributes it back into the community to help those who are food insecure, which includes 48% of households in Hampden County, according to Falk.
In 2022, Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts purchased a refrigerated van. Last year, using the van, it rescued 925,000 pounds of food. With the acquisition of the truck, which can carry six pallets or 3,000 pounds of food per trip, the organization expects to be able to double that amount. Further, using the truck will cut down on the miles that the van travels each week, prolonging the life of the vehicle.
The truck, bought from Allegiance Trucks of West Springfield, cost $128,000, including insulation and delivery. While that is no small sum for the small nonprofit, it was paid for, in part, through grants from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and The Beveridge Family Foundation.
“We’re in this together,” Falk said, thanking those who gathered to cut a ribbon in front of the vehicle, as well as longtime corporate sponsor People’s Bank.
State Rep. Brian Ashe said, “It’s almost bittersweet that we have to be here, that we have to reach out.” He spoke about his own experiences as a child with food insecurity and the stigma and shame that comes with it. “People didn’t ask to be poor. They didn’t ask to be in such dire situations. It’s easy to complain, but it’s a lot more rewarding to step up.”
Ward Caswell, president of The Beveridge Family Foundation, said, “Think about who we are in Western Massachusetts. It’s a great place to be someone in need, a place to take care of each other.”
The offices of state Sens. Jake Oliveira and Adam Gomez, and state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez were represented by Jennifer Pickering, Lamari Jackson and Lisandra Rosario, respectively.
