In 2011, the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry distributed approximately 171,000 pounds (85.5 tons) of food in 12,300 bags to clients. That food fed approximately 225 Wakefield families who visited the pantry about 4,182 times during the year for an average of 349 visits per month.
So how does it all get done? Through the hard work of a dedicated group of about 40 volunteers, plus many generous Wakefield groups, individuals and business.
According to Maureen Miller, Director of Operations, the pantry strives to organize itself around key functions staffed by volunteers who are committed to seeing that their piece of the job gets done, week in and week out.
These pantry coordinators and managers take their work very seriously and focus on how best to supervise tasks such as inventory, stocking, collection and distribution, food drives, day and evening shift coverage for clients, administration, volunteer activities as well as special programs such as the Holiday Baskets, Kids First, Senior Program and annual Postal Drive.
So who are some of these special people who give so much of themselves to help our neighbors in need? As the Volunteer Coordinator for the food pantry, Judy Carmilia’s duties involve responding to volunteer inquiries, reviewing volunteer applications, placing volunteers where most needed, and posting volunteer opportunities on the pantry’s blog. She also maintains the volunteer database and emails volunteers regularly. Recently retired, Carmilia has lived in Wakefield with her husband and family for almost 45 years.
Jane McHugh serves as the Food Drive Coordinator and acts as the liaison between organizations or individuals who want to sponsor food drives and the pantry. She also manages the arrangements of getting the food from those drives to WIFP. In addition, McHugh is a pantry shopper, which involves going to the Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston every fourth week to pick up needed food items. McHugh has been volunteering at the WIFP for about 6 years.
Anne Miller, Special Projects Coordinator, oversees programs outside the normal pantry operations. These programs include the Holiday Baskets, the annual Postal Carrier Drive, the monthly food drop off to the Senior Program at Harts Hill, and the Kids First program held each summer. A Wakefield resident for 9 years, Miller, who began assisting at the pantry in 2010, is also a busy mom raising her daughter and volunteering at the Walton School.
A Wakefield native, Judy Muse has two roles at the food pantry. She assists in Client Support, which involves registering clients and helping them shop once a week, and she keeps the pantry organized as the administrator by preparing monthly statistics, maintaining the client database and acknowledging all donations while compiling and preserving all the corporate records. After moving back to Wakefield about 8 years ago, she kept up with the pantry’s news and accomplishments. Once she retired, she found the time to volunteer more actively and has been involved since 2010.
Jane McInnis started helping out at the pantry about 7 years ago, working with the crew at the First Baptist Church location as a shopper. Today, McInnis is the Night Shift Manager who supervises the pantry and its volunteers during the evening hours on Thursdays. Retired from the Federal Reserve Bank, she enjoys helping clients and working with the other volunteers, whom she calls “amazing” and “dedicated”.
After a 39-year career in management for large grocery businesses, Debbie Jones found it only natural to use her talents and knowledge as the Day Shift Manager and Stocking Manager for the food pantry. She supervises the volunteers during the day operations on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and is responsible for keeping the shelves stocked, organized and clean. Jones uses her past experience to train other volunteers, make runs to the Greater Boston Food Bank, and assist clients. For Debbie, it’s most important to make everyone who comes to the pantry feel comfortable because she knows how hard it is for many people to ask for a little help.
As the Inventory Manager, Nancy DiTullio is responsible for the Greater Boston Food Bank orders, outside purchasing, and ensuring that the “most needed” items are available to the pantry at all times. She has volunteered at the food pantry for about 5 years, even while working full-time at Mass General Hospital. After her departure from the hospital, she began to devote more time to the food pantry and assumed the responsibility of Inventory Manager earlier this year.
The person who pulls everyone together and manages the operation as a whole is Maureen Miller, who served on the pantry’s Board of Directors in 2005 and was asked to take on the leadership role as Director of Operations in 2006, focusing on ensuring that the mission of the WIFP is fulfilled. Miller, her husband and four children have lived in Wakefield for 20 year and she has found Wakefield to be a wonderful place to raise a family.
“The reason that the food pantry works so well and so efficiently is because of our great volunteers and their heartfelt belief that we must all work together to help our neighbors in need,” Miller said. “This group inspires me and makes me feel happy to contribute in my small way to our Wakefield community.”