Thanksgiving Heroes

More than 40 volunteers gathered at the Saugus United Parish Food Pantry on Saturday to help distribute Thanksgiving meals to needy families

By Mark E. Vogler

Her first experience of helping needy families carry a Thanksgiving Day meal to their cars left a deep impression on 15-year-old Rose Means last Saturday. “I will remember people being happy when they see all the food they were going to get,” the Saugus High School 10th-grader said of the frequent smiles she observed on people’s faces as they walked out the basement of First Congregational Church.

“You could see that a lot of people were touched by the kindness they received. My grandmother has been wanting me to come and help. Finally, I did and I’m happy that I got to help out,” she said. “If I were here to get food, I would be so grateful to see the number of people who came here to help out.”

Rose was one of more than 40 volunteers who gave up most of their Saturday morning to participate in the Saugus United Parish Food Pantry’s Annual Thanksgiving food drive. About 140 needy families – mostly from Saugus, and several surrounding communities – were able to walk away with a bounty of food to accommodate a conventional sit-down family meal on Thanksgiving Day, according to Pastor Joe Hoyle of Cliftondale Congregational Church, who organized his fourth Thanksgiving Food Drive during the six and a half years he has been officiating the church. Each family that came to pick up their turkey needed some help to carry out the additional food to help make their meal. There was a box containing fresh produce – green beans, onions, carrots, corn, squash, a bag of potatoes, apples, a bag of cranberries – and a jug of apple cider. They also got a blue bag containing canned green beans, canned corn, stuffing mix, desert mix, cranberry sauce, cornbread mix, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Debbie Hoyle, the wife of Pastor Hoyle and a key contributor to organizing the Thanksgiving food drive, said she was grateful for the donations the food pantry received from Belmonte STEAM Academy (which conducted a food drive to help), Hammersmith Family Restaurant, Trader Joe’s, Market Basket and Price Rite. Metro Credit Union and Eastern Bank donated the blue bags that were filled with nonperishable items in boxes and cans. “It really takes a community to pull this off, and we’re really grateful to people who donated to the cause,” she said.

“And we’re especially grateful to all of the volunteers. Every year a few people who have been helping out for many years – some of them decades. And then some for the first time,” she said.

Pastor Hoyle said he was particularly grateful to the volunteers who turned out on a rainy and cold Saturday morning to spend some time in the basement. “They are very giving people to do that,” Pastor Hoyle said.

Saugus High Head Coach Steve Cummings showed up with 18 players and several of his coaches to help out for a couple of hours before heading out to practice. “This is a great opportunity for kids 14 to 18 years old to come down and help,” Coach Cummings said.

“It opens their eyes to some of the struggles that families are going through. Any time you get a chance to open these kids’ eyes to what’s going on in the world is good,” he said.

“It’s important for them to be a part of something like this. And today we’ve got a good turnout for a good cause. Anything we can do to help out to make Thanksgiving a little better for families – that’s what we’re here for,” he said.

For Cody Munafo, a Saugus High senior and team captain, Saturday was the first time he participated in the Thanksgiving food drive. “I feel better about myself, giving back to the community,” Cody said.

“I was glad to help as many families as I can. And all of the families were grateful and thanked me. Every single Thanksgiving I have for the rest of my life, I’ll think about this,” he said.

Robyn Berry – Rose’s grandmother – is a longtime food pantry volunteer who has been coming to the Thanksgiving food drive. “I heard they needed help here in the food pantry. So, I volunteered, and I love it,” Berry said.

“I think there’s a lot of people out there who need help. I think everybody should help in whatever way they can. I love to help people. I even brought my granddaughter this year – Rose Mean, a 10th grader at Saugus High,” she said.

“I think it’s important that the young people know how to help and that they learn early,” she said.

Rose brought her friend with her Saturday – Andrea Montenegro, 15 – who is also in the 10th grade at Saugus High. “I think it’s a great benefit for the families and the students who help them,” Andrea said. “The students get credit for community service hours and the family gets a meal. We helped a lot of families today that don’t have food for Thanksgiving and now they have a nice meal to eat. I think more High School kids should come here and help out…”

Ronnie Puzon, a Saugus real estate broker, is a newcomer to the food pantry, and Saturday was the first time he participated in the Thanksgiving food drive. “I love helping people out – getting involved in projects like feeding the hungry and people who can’t afford food,” Ronnie said.

“I come from a financial background and understand how inflation is hurting a lot of people. A dozen eggs has gone from 99 cents to $4.99 in the last four years. That’s creating a lot of food insecurity and everybody’s feeling it. At least here at the food pantry, we can bridge some of the gap,” he said. “I always wanted to give back to the community by helping out people. And that’s what I’m doing.”

Debbie Hoyle said there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of families using the food pantry over the past year. “We were doing 50 to 60 families each week. Now, we’re serving 80 to 90 families,” she said.

“The number of families relying on the food pantry always ebbs and flows with the economy and the time of year,” she said.