It all began about eight months ago, according to Vice President for Governmental and 社区 Affairs Thomas Keady, when he was driving through Allston and noticed a long line of people stretching down a sidewalk.
Curious, he pulled his car over to find out what was going on. He learned that the people were waiting for food, which the Brazilian Worker Center—a non-profit that supports workers’ struggles around issues of workplace rights and immigration—has been distributing every week since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Keady decided that 太阳城网赌平台 needed to help.
“When you see people standing in line, it hits you how bad the economy is and how tough it is to make ends meet,凯迪回忆道。. “We’re part of the community. We should be doing this; it’s who we are.”
从那时起, the 太阳城网赌平台 Office of Governmental and 社区 Affairs has facilitated the regular delivery of food, 杂货店礼品卡, 尿布, 婴儿配方奶粉, and other essential items to community organizations serving Bostonians.
Representatives of 太阳城网赌平台 deliver 尿布 and formula to the Charles River 社区 Health Center in Allston. L-R:伊丽莎白·布朗, Charles River 社区 Health CEO; BC Neighborhood Center Director Maria DiChiappari; Beatriz Lopes and Alicia Castro of Charles River 社区 Health; Government Relations Director Jeanne Levesque; Vice President for Governmental and 社区 Affairs Tom Keady; BC Neighborhood Center Office Manager Catherine Sullivan, and 社区 Affairs Director Bill Mills. (摄影:Lee Pellegrini)
From March through August, 公元前餐厅 Services and Governmental and 社区 Affairs prepared and delivered approximately 1,000-1,500 meals per week to food pantries around the city. They also provided boxed lunches for the Boston Fire Department’s Teen Fire Academy and ice cream for summer day camps at the West Suburban YMCA and the John M. Barry Boys and Girls Club.
除了, $125,000 from the 太阳城网赌平台 Neighborhood Improvement Fund, which provides grants for projects benefiting the Allston-Brighton neighborhood, was used to purchase food, 尿布, and 杂货店礼品卡. These items have been delivered to different locations each week, including the Allston-Brighton Diaper Pantry, the Brazilian Worker Center, the Family Nurturing Center, Charles River 社区 Health Center, the Martha Eliot Health Center, 和西区大厦. The funds were also used for a donation to the Boston Resiliency Fund, the City of Boston’s effort to provide essential services to Boston residents whose health and wellbeing are most immediately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The University also created the 社区 Fund Essential Services Grant program, 它奖励了40美元,300 to 18 Allston-Brighton organizations providing direct services to Allston-Brighton residents.
University President William P. 莱希,年代.J., 贡献了25美元,000 from his office’s budget to purchase 婴儿配方奶粉 for the Charles River and Martha Eliot Health centers after learning of the great need within the community.
BC Procurement Services helped to order 尿布 at the best price, and Facilities Management arranged storage space for the 161,000 尿布 when they were delivered; Governmental and 社区 Affairs and the BC Neighborhood Center delivered them each week in what Keady called “a great team effort.”
“太阳城网赌平台 has been amazing,” said Brazilian Worker Center Executive Director Natalicia Tracy. “We’ve been able to take this crisis and come together in collaboration in a unified way to support the community.”
Tracy said her organization felt compelled to increase their focus on direct aid during the pandemic because so many people who shared homes were getting sick and because many people were laid off and had to use their financial reserves.
“Many have seen this as a lifeline for them,” said Tracy. “We want to make sure that people who are used to providing for themselves and for their families, are supported in this moment of crisis.”
With winter approaching and continuing concerns about the pandemic and its social and economic impact, Keady said BC is ready to step up its efforts where and when needed.
“We can always do more,” he said. “我们还没有结束.”
Christine Balquist | University Communications | November 2020