Photos: Volunteers Deliver Groceries to 80 Parkway Families in Need

For those of you who may not know about the Family in Need effort, for many years, the West Roxbury Business and Professional Association, in coordination with the West Roxbury YMCA, Ethos /AgeWell West Roxbury, and our Boston Police Department, identify a list of families and seniors who need holiday groceries at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We then work with Roche Bros. who offers us consideration on the cost and then bags up the groceries and turkeys for us for distribution.  A group of volunteers from the business, non-profit and residential communities then make the deliveries. We also identify one or two families with greater needs and “adopt” them, offering them assistance as well as presents from the business and residential communities for Christmas.  More on the family we adopt for Christmas soon. 

The West Roxbury Business and Professional Association reaches out to businesses and residents to help offset the cost of the groceries. We have seen a spike in requests for groceries this year and it seems that it has been a particularly difficult time for more people, especially in the numbers of families with children who need help. 

Each delivery costs approximately $50 and between the two holidays, and we will deliver to approximately 180 sets of groceries.  The WRBPA is grateful for this support so we can continue with our Annual Thanksgiving and Christmas grocery deliveries to Families in Need in our community. 

Donations can be made payable to: FAMILY IN NEED and mail to the West Roxbury Business and Professional Association. Post Office Box 320113, West Roxbury, MA  02132.  Donations can also be dropped off at Wicked Sharp, 1898 Centre Street or Reliable Trading Post, 115 Park Street, all in West Roxbury.  

We are grateful to the following people who will be helping us make deliveries this Thanksgiving: 

Barbara Manie, The Cooperative Bank, Tom McDonough, Office of Boston City Council President Steve Murphy, Senator Mike Rush, Jim Hennigan, Hennigan Insurance, (Chair of the West Roxbury YMCA Board, and Coordinator for the Salvation Army Bell Ringing at Roche Bros.), Alan MacKinnon, CCE, (President, The Gardens at Gethsemane and YMCA Board), Joe Carroll, National Grid, Brigid Boyle, Director of Development at Ethos, Johnnie Fasanello, Kathleen Kelley, Helen Connors, and from the Boston Police Department:  Captain Jim Hasson, Sgt. Michael Hanson, Phil Polizzi (BPD Building Superintendent), Kerry Ryan (Director of Community Engagement and Collaboration), Community Service Officers Elvis Garcia (Youth Service Officer), Louis Vasquez, and Ed Roach, Sgt. Kenny Jameson (retired) who has come back from retirement to help, Officer Brian Sullivan, (Senior Response Officer), and Nicole England from the Community Service Office, Greg Karr (CEO of The German Centre for Extended Care), Steve Morris and Doug McClure (Team Steve and Doug, RE/MAX), Bonnie Lavoie from the West Roxbury Medical Building, Boston City Councillor-at-Large Ayanna Pressley, Diane Capodilupo and Chrissie Teague of RE/MAX Achievers, Ray Santos (Community Relations Director at Ethos), Rickie Harvey, Chair, and Karen Sauer, Steering Committee of West Roxbury Saves Energy, Kathy George, Joe Donnelly and Louise Schiarizzi  from Vogt Realty Group, Scott Whitcomb from Larkin Movers, Tara McKeown from Keller Williams Realty, Marianne Miller, and from the YMCA, Marion Kelly, Monica Lynch, Kathleen Ryan and Becky Peluso, Sean O’Brien, VP and Branch Manager for TD Bank, Rosemary Purtell, Aisling Walsh, and Jacquie Campbell, Stephanie Monaghan, VP and Manager of Eastern Bank, Mike and Andrew Melton, Jocelyn Bourgault, American Bible Society and Darren DeSisto.