More than 30 volunteers took part in The Great Community Pass, organized by The Berkshire Food Co-op, on Sunday, Nov. 20. Photo by Shaw Israel Izikson.
Great Barrington — More than 30 volunteers took part in the first-ever Great Community Pass on Sunday, November 20. The event was a way of distributing food donated by customers from The Berkshire Co-op to The People’s Pantry.
According to organizers, the idea for the event harkens back to 2003 when the Co-op moved from its original location on Rosseter Street to its current location on Bridge Street. During the Co-op’s move to a new location, employees used the same passing procedure to move items from the old store to the new store.
During the November 20 event, volunteers took shopping carts of food from across the street where the Co-op is located on Bridge Street to the corner of Main Street and Castle Street. Over 30 volunteers lined up all across Main Street to pass food over to where The People’s Pantry is located at 5 St James Place.
The “assembly line” passing of donated food lasted for several hours in the cold 30-degree weather. Co-organizers said that “several tons” of food was donated to The People’s Pantry by Co-op customers, but could not give an exact estimate of how much was donated.
Despite the cold weather, the volunteers all looked happy as the event went on. “This is not just a donation from the Co-op and its customers, it’s also a demonstration of goodwill,” Co-op employee and event co-organizer Jessy Turner said. “We could easily just drive food from the Co-op to The People’s Pantry. But this is a group activity that brings attention to the pantry and in a way is living art. It also gets members of the community physically involved. We need to bring awareness to food scarcity, especially in these uncertain times.”
“It’s important that we have to keep people fed,” Co-op General Manager Jessica Bosworth said. “Food insecurity affects our whole community. I think it’s incredible to see all of our volunteers here today, and it’s a much better turnout than I expected.”
Diane Piraino, a board member of The People’s Pantry, said she is thankful for those who volunteered for the event. “We’ve known for a long time that this community is something special, and this is just another example of it,” Piraino said. “The Co-op has been very supportive of us, and we have had a real increase in need during the pandemic.”
For more information about The People’s Pantry go to its website.
