From L to R: James Montgomery, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Kathleen Theoharides, Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, James Morton, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Boston, Chynah Tyler, State Representative of the 7th District, Suffolk, and Cheryl Schondek, Executive Vice President of Food Acquisition at the Greater Boston Food Bank.
As COVID-19 began to strike our world, nation, communities, and even our individual families within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we knew there was something to be done to support.
Snapchef is grateful to be so closely connected with groups and organizations that have been working hard to eradicate the many obstacles we have been experiencing – hunger is and has been a pressing line item for a while now. Statistics said that 1 in every 13 will not know where their next meal will come from. Due to COVID-19, that number has now dropped to 1 in every 8, and out of the 1 in every 8, 1 in every 5 are children who are affected by the world’s current food insecurity status.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is collaborating with partner organizations to decimate these numbers, to name a few of the big contributors: The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, The Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Department of Labor, The Greater Boston Food Bank that has provided more than 1.8 million pounds of food thanks to their product and financial donors, and then the YMCA of Greater Boston who has put all of these resources together to facilitate a program that presented a whopping 4.2 million meals throughout more than 200 Eastern Massachusetts cities and towns since COVID-19 has begun.
In addition to the resources named above, The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development was able to grant the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a recipient of a National Dislocated Worker Grant. This grant has allowed more than 55 organizations throughout the Commonwealth a chance to receive funded workers to support all humanitarian and food insecurity initiatives that have been identified and put in play to feed and provide to their communities affected.
Snapchef is proud to be the Employer of Record for this grant to work in conjunction with The Massachusetts Department of Career Services to source, capture, and prepare more than 200 individuals to get back to work to provide support to the communities and families who have been most affected throughout this time.
Snapchef would like to thank James Morton, Wendy Zinn, and their team at the YMCA of Greater Boston for their leadership in addressing food insecurity at their multiple locations across our community. The YMCA of Greater Boston is partnering with Snapchef/Masshire to help make this plan a reality. It is an honor for Snapchef to provide the YMCA of Greater Boston with the culinary staffing tools to fight hunger in our communities.
Congratulations to all the recipients of the $4.7 million dollars in grants awarded to address the urgent food insecurities across the Commonwealth – especially the YMCA who will now be able to implement remote food trucks to feed the residents across their communities in more remote areas where residents are unable to source their meals and pantry staples to live a healthy daily life.
