The two food pantries in Watertown received a special delivery of supplies courtesy of donations made by the Watertown community during the Watertown Community Foundation’s Food Drive.
The collection took place during May, which is the Foundation’s annual month of volunteering called Watertown Helps Out — or WHO. The food was delivered Thursday afternoon to the Watertown Food Pantry, located in the former United Methodist Church, and the Watertown Catholic Collaborative Food Pantry, located the Sacred Heart Church, made Thursday afternoon, said Tia Tilson, Executive Director of the Watertown Community Foundation.
“We delivered food to both pantries, unloading roughly six full grocery carts at each pantry,” Tilson said.
Thursday morning, Tilson, along with WCF Board Co-President Lauren Couglin Unsworth, and WCF Director of Operation Heather McManus, packed up the food with the help of employees from Watertown-based ButcherBox.
Tilson said she got a big hand organizing the food drive from Coughlin Unsworth, a food drive veteran
“I’ve been organizing food drives probably since pre-COVID, when my kids were little — in schools, getting the food drives going,” Coughlin Unsworth said. “It’s a great way to get the kids involved. So to have a food drive come back this year as part of Watertown Helps Out — we didn’t have one in the past year — gives it a new energy.”
Couglin Unsworth knows Niki Taormina, Head of Events and Experience at ButcherBox, because their sons play Youth Hockey together. The company, a subscription meat and protein delivery company, tries to give back to the communities where it has facilities so they looked for an effort to sponsor.
“We hadn’t done this here in Watertown yet … So we talked a little, and I think last year we did something that was kind of small, and then we kind of had this earmark for this year to want to make it happen,” Taormina said. So that’s kind of how it was born.”
The Community Foundation worked with many partners to make the food drive work, Tilson said.
“This effort showcases what is truly possible when non-profits, our public sector and our business work hand-in-hand with people across the community,” Tilson said. “So many people and businesses in Watertown showed tremendous generosity and heart in donating carloads of food to restock both our food pantries at a critical time.”
Food drop-off boxes were located at the Watertown Police Station, the East End Fire Station, the Watertown Free Public Library, and at each of the Watertown Public Schools. Some residents had block parties and collected items for the pantries during the recent Watertown Porchfest.
“This is coming at a really key time. There’s a high need. People are struggling with housing prices, and since they can’t shift on rent, they do it by going to the food pantries to ease their budget. So this is amazing,” Tilson said.
The food drive also focused on items for kids as the school year comes to an end.
“With the end of school, kids and families need additional support for school lunches,” Tilson said. “So we’ve got, we made a particular call for things that kids could take before camp, or for, you know, summertime snacks.”
The food was sorted by ButcherBox employees and members of the Watertown Community Foundation at a space on the bottom floor of the Parker Annex Building — the former Parker School on Watertown Street that was purchased by the City of Watertown in 2022. The Parker Annex will be the new home for the Watertown Food Pantry, which is moving out of its current spot because the plan is for the church property to be sold.
“This room will be the location of the new Food Pantry,” Tilson said. “So it’s kind of interesting for us to see its inaugural use of it being as a food distribution point.”