Revere Veterans Food Pantry sees a rise in need

By Shawna James

Every first Wednesday of the month, residents drive to the back of the American Legion building in Revere to receive their share of canned vegetables, pasta, rice and meat from the Veterans Food Pantry. That was no different on a recent day — except a steady incline of need in the line.

“[The need] has steadily increased in the last couple of months,” said Donna Dreeszen, the pantry’s founder, in an interview. “We have a lot of younger veterans that we typically didn’t have before.”

Dreeszen started the pantry on an upstairs floor of the American Legion building in 2012 with just 37 clients; today that number is nearly 500, she said.

Food insecurity among veterans has become a pressing issue since the global pandemic and the government shutdown in the fall. More than 21,000 recipients of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Massachusetts are veterans, according to the state’s website.

Dreeszen said she founded the pantry after seeing many veterans struggle with food insecurity. But when the pantry first opened, few people came. She said she worked hard to persuade veterans to take advantage of the service.

“I would ask the veterans, ‘Why didn’t you come to the food pantry?’ and they were like, ‘I don’t need it,’ even though some did,” said Dreeszen recently as she pored over a spreadsheet of the pantry’s statistics.

Eventually, she said, the veterans began to come. Danny Hernandez, the pantry’s manager, said he and his staff began using targeted advertising to reach veterans, and the results have led to an increase in the number of people using the pantry.

On the eve of the monthly food pantry, Hernandez, the staff and volunteers start preparing for distribution day. This includes designating specific areas to sort the food. The next day, volunteers arrive early, around 6 a.m., to receive deliveries from The Greater Boston Food Bank and stock large shopping bags provided by Wegmans. The pantry also receives fresh greens and other produce from Olivia’s Organics in Chelsea, said Dreeszen.

Volunteers say they are driven to help. “It was only natural to be able to volunteer and give back,’’ said Carol Pizziferri, a volunteer for the past 10 years whose father served in World War II.

She said that when the pantry was upstairs it was challenging for both volunteers and clients to get the bags to their cars. But now, the drive-up system has made things much better, especially for the elderly clients, she added.

“It’s much easier than waiting for people, especially upstairs,” said Pizziferri. “And so now… basically, [you] come in your car, [we] put the bags in, and they check you off and see you later.”

William Reedy, a volunteer who is also a veteran, said the pantry does what it can for the people it serves. “We all help one another,” Reedy said. “[If] anybody needs anything, they can always call us.”