West Roxbury Officials to Deliver Groceries to 85 Families Monday

Business professionals and community organizers in West Roxbury will gather at Roche Bros. on Centre Street Monday morning to help nearly 100 families in need for the holidays.

The West Roxbury Business and Professional Association will work with the West Roxbury YMCA, Ethos/Age Well West Roxbury and the West Roxbury Police District E-5 Department to deliver groceries to more than 85 families and seniors in need on Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the grocery store.

The groups identify a list of families and seniors at risk who need holiday groceries at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then work with Roche Bros., which offers consideration on the cost and subsequently bags the groceries for distribution. Volunteers from the business, nonprofit and residential communities then make the deliveries, according to Mary Mulvey Jacobson, President of the West Roxbury Business and Professional Association. 

"We depend upon residents and businesses to help pay for the groceries and do something extra for the special families in need," Jacobson said. 

The WRBPA has "adopted" three families with children and will offer them assistance, as well as presents from the business and residential communities this year; two of the families have four children and one has five. Jacobson issued the following description of the three families as follows:

"Our first family suffered the recent and sudden loss of a husband and father. His wife is now alone caring for their five children and it would be no surprise to say this is an extremely difficult time. What would be most helpful for them would be gift cards for groceries and clothing. Also, school vacation is nearly here and gift certificates for activities for the children, be it movies, bowling or family restaurants would be greatly appreciated. I can’t even imagine what they are going through but help from the greater community will let them know that they are not alone and that someone cares and wants to help.

"Our second family consists of a mother and four young girls, ages 9, 4, 3, and 2 months. The father has been deported, leaving the family no means of support at this time. It has been hard but somehow the strength is found to carry on. The oldest girl participates in the YMCA’s After School programming and has blossomed since joining. She is happy, eager to learn and has become quite attached to the great staff at the Y who shows her that she is loved. This 9-year-old wears size 12 and I heard that she doesn’t have a winter coat. Both the four and three year old wear small-size 5-6 T and the 2-month-old wears 3-6 months now, so some larger sizes would be of great use. The three youngest may not have warm winter clothes either, including hats, scarves, boots and gloves. 

"Our third family is a single mom with three boys and a girl. The father is not in the picture, so the mother does the job for two. She knows that in order to provide for her family in the long run, she needs to find marketable skills so she is working towards an Associates degree in Health Careers. She is nearly finished and then plans to go for her Bachelor’s degree in nursing. She already knows that she wants to work in the maternity ward! Her oldest boy is 11 years old and wears size 16 boys. He is into writing and crafts. The second boy is 8 years old and wears size 10 boys. He is laid back and loves basketball and football.  He also likes to color and draw. The third is a 6-year-old little girl who loves to dress up. She is a little diva who loves dolls, beads and loves things that sparkle. She wears size 7-8. The fourth child is almost 2 years old and likes blocks, puzzles and all other things loved by two year olds. The mother has her children as the top priority and appreciates any help this holiday season."

Every delivery costs about $50, and the WRBPA will deliver about 180 sets of groceries between Christmas and New Year's.

Donations can be dropped off at the following West Roxbury locations: Wicked Sharp at 1898 Centre St. and Reliable Trading Post at 115 Park St.

Donations can also be made payable to "Family In Need" and sent to the following address: 

West Roxbury Business and Professional Association
PO Box 310113
West Roxbury, MA 02132