Part 6: Salvation Army & Cambridge Community Center
In our exploration of the “borders” of Boston, we (Carol-Anne and Ana) visited immigrant-owned restaurants and ethnic grocery markets to experience the tastes and atmospheres of places from abroad. In each of these visits, we experienced the joys of sharing food. Concurrently however, we also realized the importance of understanding the hardships around food. We each sought out volunteering opportunities with local free food provision organizations to see first-hand a different kind of border many people across the city encounter—that of food scarcity.
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Salvation Army Photo Collage. Image by Authors.
Most MIT students likely pass the building on a regular basis hardly noticing it, much less considering what happens inside. The Salvation Army of Cambridge sits on Mass Ave, at the intersection of Main Street. My first time there, I (Ana) spoke with Majors Judy and Karen, and Captain Patty, who baffled me with all the things this Salvation Army does and provides. It runs a shelter for unhoused men, an alcohol addiction recovery program, and a recovery program for delinquent adolescents. They also have a daycare for homeless children, provide daily hot meals to anyone who walks in, they offer a food pantry, and provide a variety of seasonal services. Most of their services involve food. The kids in daycare are fed breakfast and lunch, and leave with a snack. The recovery programs include dinner and they also offer dinner to the parents of the daycare children once a week.
The Food Pantry, at the time that I started my involvement with the Salvation Army, was offered just once a week. Food was being delivered from Target three times a week, but the organization’s volunteer and full-time staff availability only permitted the Pantry to be open on Mondays. I thus committed to coming every Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm to open the Pantry a second day per week. When I arrived for my first shift, I was amazed by the quantity and quality of food that was waiting to be given away. There was so much produce. I filled a whole box with bananas. They were all a little over-ripe, but they’d be perfect for making banana bread. “That’s what everyone says,” according to Captain Patty. She and I filled another box with oranges, another with limes and lemons, another with cauliflower, another with potatoes, another with cantaloupe and other fruits. The rest of the table space had stacks of kiwi containers, garlic, raspberries, blackberries, apples, and more. And it was all in great condition. When Major Judy came in, she exclaimed, “You’ve turned this place into a grocery store!”
I was a little skeptical about getting a good crowd in since we hadn’t advertised at all, and people could only know if they happened to see the sign out front. I was right, we only got 3 or 4 visitors in the 2.5 hours I was there, but it was well worth it. Two students came in, and the last customer was a middle-aged woman with a bandana and an accent I could not exactly place. She was an immigrant mother feeding her family of four, two of which were under the age of 18. She filled up as many plastic “Thank You” bags as she could hold and left the building carrying what looked like her own weight in groceries. She then came running back about five minutes later, needing more bags to reinforce ones that had broken! I ran after her with a big produce box, which she gratefully put all her groceries in. I don’t know how she made it home carrying so much. From the way in which she delightedly collected as much food as she could carry, I went home satisfied, knowing the Salvation Army Food Pantry made a difference to at least one family that day.
Over the weeks, I made friends with this woman, who arrived every Wednesday at 1pm sharp. I learned that she is originally from the Dominican Republic, and although she has a degree in interior design that she obtained there, she works in Cambridge as staff at a nearby hotel. We bonded over our appreciation of design, our shared language of Spanish, and our love of rice. Each week she came to take home free groceries for her family, yet in her heart of gratitude, she also started coming with homemade food to share with me. Despite her need, she gave me containers of homemade muffins, soup, and even chicken and rice.
During the first couple of Wednesdays of my serving at the Food Pantry, the flow of people we received was just a trickle. The only people who wandered inside were those who happened to pass the sign outside and were bold enough to enter. In my third week, the weather was nice and Captain Patty decided we should have the Pantry outside. It was brilliant— we set up three long tables between the building and the Mass Ave. sidewalk, and I was amazed by how many people stopped by to take food. We operated this way for weeks, until it started getting too cold, but thankfully by the time we went back inside the Wednesday Food Pantry had gained so much popularity that the flow of people and food continued with strength. Nevertheless, there is always food leftover at the end of the day. At one point, we learned about Community Fridges (also called “Blessing Boxes” by some Salvation Army members). Now, at the end of each day, a few of the Shelter residents pack up the remainder of food and drop it off at the Community Fridges in Harvard and Somerville.
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Further away from the bustle of Central Square, and right off of Western Ave., the Cambridge Community Center is tucked within a quiet residential neighborhood. I (Carol-Anne) had ventured away from MIT to volunteer for the day at the Cambridge Community Center in hopes of understanding how it served the larger local community.
The Cambridge Community Center (CCC) was founded in 1929 by a group of black ministers, with the initial motivation to create a gathering place for African Americans in the area . It served as an alternative to the YMCA, which primarily served white Americans. In the present day, it serves as a hub for social activity for everyone around the Central Square area.
When I entered the building, there was no one by the front door. Instead, I could hear a commotion further inside the building and I moved towards the gymnasium. All hands were on deck as the whole space had been transformed into an assembly line: from volunteers moving boxes of produce off the trucks all the way to the organizers sorting vegetables, fruits and canned goods before they were quickly placed into individual take-home bags to be picked up behind the gymnasium.
Cambridge Community Center Photo Collage. Image by Authors.
Initially, the CCC’s Food pantry was operated solely by Zach Goldhammer, a new employee passionate about serving the community, and “LB”, Lawrence Battle, the Facilities manager, a jovial man with a cap to match his initials. It was a small operation that started in the small common room in the front. Together, both of them would hand out grocery bags directly out the front door.
However, like the rest of the city and world, with the COVID-19 pandemic everything changed. Soon the patrons that were lining up the streets stepped behind the scenes to help run the day to day operations. Even though they faced food insecurity themselves, these recipients volunteered their time behind the tables. This is why, when they lost their day jobs, the CCC took them in and staffed them to run the pantry. Now, the CCC Food Pantry operates 4 days a week, with people lining the corner from 1 to 3 pm.
The pandemic revealed a greater food access disparity within Boston and brought food insecurity into the spotlight. Initially there was a sense of shame and failure present from the few recipients that traveled to the pantry. However, when the lines formed around the blocks, this transformed into a shared kinship where everyone experienced the same food insecurity.
At the height of the pandemic, there were about 250 people coming around to the CCC Food Pantry per day. The visitors came from far and wide--with some trekking even as far as from East Boston. The CCC is famous for providing the most food compared to other pantries in the area—largely due to their storage facilities’ ability to house a lot of produce. There are no barriers to entry, such as scheduling a pick up or providing proof of need. What drives the pantry is a sense of faith that those deep in need will be the ones to take what’s offered. However, this open generosity does not come without backlash: there have been accusations from recipients that certain patrons purchase produce to sell at their own respective bodegas. These hostilities have also emerged in micro-aggressions, where racial slurs are thrown at minority groups by other patrons.
Cambridge Community Center Community Fridge Photo Collage. Image by Authors.
While I was helping to move food outside to the back before the pantry opened its doors, I noticed a colorful shed tucked in the corner, with a white kitchen fridge inside. Known as a “Community Fridge,” these little sheds operate under the motto, Take what you need, give what you can. As completely unlocked sheds, they are open to anyone who is willing to drop off food or pick up an extra meal. The built structure protects the fridge while simultaneously reflecting the character of its neighborhood.
That day, someone had left a few couple of take-away containers filled with home-made meals. Each was labeled with handwritten notes, kindly explaining the ingredients present and how to heat it up. I was so touched to see such a personal note that, even though I didn’t know the person who had cooked the food, I could feel their generosity from the thoughtfulness of their message. Over the course of the day, the meals were quickly picked up by patrons, until the fridge was empty again. However, the CCC fridge is not a stand-alone project; it is part of a greater redistribution network where fridges across the Greater Boston area can communicate to each other what they need or what excess food they have.
After the pantry closed up for the day, I sat down with Zach to ask him his opinion on operating the food pantry. For him, he believes that Food pantries should be treated equal to essential services. Many volunteers face eviction moratorium and income insecurity along with food insecurity. He wants the city of Cambridge to recognize these volunteers as essential workers—especially during public crises, like the pandemic—and compensate them for running the food pantry, which became a vital source of support to the community when people were unable to put food on their respective tables.
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In both of our volunteering experiences, we navigated the border of food insecurity and the institutions that help navigate this obstacle. The institutions are more than just the food they serve; they also serve as larger centers of support and engagement. From the hardest times of the pandemic to the tribulations of the everyday, food provision organizations have served as the life source of their communities.