The holiday season is here and two local organizations — the Greater Boston Food Bank and Globe Santa — are working to help those in need.
Thanks to these organizations, nearly 30,000 local children will receive holiday gifts and thousands more will have access to free food.
Catherine D’Amato, president and chief executive of the Greater Boston Food Bank said the organization helps raise over $100 million annually to provide free food to people in need. The food bank serves 600 different organizations combatting hunger across 190 communities in eastern Massachusetts.
“There are so many families with children — 1 in 3 — in our state, that are experiencing food insecurity for the first time because the dollar just doesn’t stretch. So 600,000 people in eastern Massachusetts eat something from the Greater Boston Food Bank every month,” D’Amato said Wednesday on Boston Public Radio.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 7 people faced food insecurity. Inflation and ongoing economic pressures mean that more families are struggling to make ends meet.
“Every five-cent raise in the price of eggs means [families are] not going to have eggs this year,” Linda Matchan, editor for Globe Santa, said.
The Globe Santa team receives letters from parents, guardians or relatives requesting toys for kids. Matchan turns those requests into articles highlighting personal stories and needs between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over 16,000 letters were submitted this year.
“I look for themes in the letters, and I try to write the articles that correspond to these themes. So that really gives me a sense of what people are struggling with this year. And it varies from year to year,” Matchan said. “A common denominator this year is inflation.”
Both D’Amato and Matchan are actively calling on people in Greater Boston to help out any way they can, whether by donating money or volunteering their time.
“Do what you can. ... The point is, do something. Just don’t be idle, ”D’Amato said. “You can do so many different things beyond giving money.”
Matchan said generous groups of volunteers who have supported Globe Santa throughout the years “pop up” at holiday time.
“They’re so random and decide to raise money for Globe Santa,” she said.
For example, she said, Mel Stiller, a piano player who performs at piano bars around the city held his annual Globe Santa sing-along fundraiser this week, raising over $1,500 for the cause.
