Harvest on Vine prior news items and reports

Some photos from our early December distribution

Harvest on Vine
Update May 2023

The future of Harvest on Vine emergency food pantry looks bright. We received funding to buy an 8’ x 10’ outdoor freezer, which will give us the capacity we need to store plenty of meat, pork, poultry, and fish, as well as frozen fruits and vegetables. Our families prefer these foods, and we will soon have the freezer space to match the need.

Once the freezer is installed, we are building an overhang in the rectory parking lot, similar in size to the canopy we rent for the Thanksgiving distribution. The overhang will provide shelter in the winter and shade in the summer. We started distributing food outside in response to the pandemic. We will continue this practice. It is safer for both the volunteers and the clients. We hope to have the overhang built by the end of the summer.

In the fall we have two events in the works. On Saturday, September 16, we will host a community barbecue, dubbed The Great Urban Cookout. Three hundred people attended last year. We expect a similar number this year. In October we will be holding a fundraising event, celebrating Harvest on Vine’s 20th anniversary. Date to be announced.

Harvest on Vine has partnered with the City of Boston’s Office of Food Justice, whose goal is to end food insecurity in Boston. Members of OFJ attended two of our distributions and made suggestions on how we can better serve our clients. They see food as a way to build community, and they’ve given us ideas on how to make this happen in Charlestown.

Our volunteers continue to do outstanding work. Their compassionate service transforms each distribution into an act of kindness, an act of solidarity with the poor. Last Saturday, forty volunteers gave out six tons of food (ten pallets) to more than a hundred and fifty families. In addition to our core group, we recently had alumni teams from St. Joseph University and Fairfield University, and students from Malden Catholic and B.C. High.

Our benefactors keep us afloat. We are grateful for your financial gifts. The money you donate gives us the means to purchase the food we distribute. Because of your generosity, we are able to give each family 40-50 pounds of food twice a month. We provide milk, fresh produce, eggs, cheese, fish, chicken, pork, meat, and all the dry goods they can carry. Your donations make this possible.

The Greater Boston Food Bank has designated Harvest on Vine an emergency food pantry. For some of our families, the emergency never ends, thus our need for your support never ends.

Summer is coming and school will be out. As in summers past, we are requesting cereal donations for a cereal drive. If you are able to help out, please drop the boxes of cereal off at the Church before or after the Masses. You can also drop off cereal (or other food donations) at the Parish Office—46 Winthrop Street or at the food pantry on Vine Street.

Thank you.
Tom MacDonald
Social Ministry Director

December Needs List

Our Thanksgiving Distribution took place on
Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
Thank you to all donors and volunteers whose generosity made it possible to bring Thanksgiving to so many Charlestown families.

Harvest on Vine Fundraiser
at The Brewer’s Fork – October 23

Last Sunday, Harvest on Vine emergency food pantry held a fundraiser at the Brewer’s Fork in Hayes Square. Our supporters donated more than $9,000 to feed the needy families of Charlestown. The Brewer’s Fork furnished the space and provided the food at no charge, so all the proceeds will go to Harvest on Vine. Thank you to the owners, Michael and Kari Cooney!

As part of the festivities, we recognized Sister Kathleen Carven with the Harvest on Vine Humanitarian of the Year award. Sister Kathleen has been volunteering at the food pantry for many years. She is our spiritual anchor.

Before each food distribution, Sister Kathleen offers an inspiring prayer that she writes specially for that day, setting the tone for a God-centered  happening. Her humility and compassion are contagious. We do our best to follow her example.

We are blessed to have Sister Kathleen in the pantry. Our clients love her. We all love her.

We at Harvest on Vine are grateful for your generosity. We are now getting ready for Thanksgiving, where we expect to give out roughly 550 turkey baskets with all the fixins’. We wish you a joyful holiday season.

photos courtesy of Donna LeCam

Harvest on Vine
by Tom MacDonald, September 2022

St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena’s Harvest on Vine emergency food pantry is entering its twentieth year of service. Twenty years ago the parish identified food insecurity as an issue in the neighborhood and started Harvest on Vine in response. The goal was to alleviate hunger in Charlestown. We began with seven families and a few volunteers. Today we have more than
six hundred families on our database and over a hundred volunteers. We distribute food twice a month, and we give out food throughout the week.
We never turn anyone away.
During the pandemic the need for food, toiletries, and other items skyrocketed. In response Harvest on Vine increased the amount of food we were giving out. Charlestown residents and organizations ran drives. Our religious-education students led a hugely successful effort to collect soap, shampoo, and other toiletries. Our St. Vincent DePaul conference, in partnership with St. Francis De Sales’s conference, initiated an equally successful towel drive. Another impassioned supporter provided heavy duty shower curtains for our families. The list goes on.
We wore masks and gloves and moved the operation outside. Everyone adapted to the change, bundling up to weather the cold, ignoring wind and snow. We will continue to operate outside to maximize health safety for all.
Generous donors give us the means to provide fresh produce, meat, milk, cheese, and eggs at every distribution. Each month we give out tons of potatoes, onions, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, bok choy, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables. We survey our clients and order food they like, usually cultural preferences. The Greater Boston Food Bank calls the neighborhood we serve a food desert. Most families don’t have transportation to drive
to supermarkets, and the stores within walking distance offer little fresh fare. We aim to bridge the food-desert gap.
Harvest on Vine is blessed to have ample product to distribute. We are doubly blessed to have committed and compassionate volunteers to give it out. The connection between the clients and the volunteers is palpable. These relationships have grown over the years.
God is at the center of this parish program. Sister Kathleen Carven begins each distribution with a prayer. The crux of her prayer is that we see the face of Christ in each person we encounter, and that we welcome each person with dignity and respect. Sister prays for oneness with the poor, for a bond between neighbors. She points out that hard luck can befall anybody. There but for the grace of God go I. We have more in common than we don’t.
We all want to provide food for our families. We all want to be loved and valued. This is Harvest on Vine’s hope, to promote a loving and accepting community. We are still learning how, and we always will be. The work is never done.