Many will remember the Bible story of the loaves and the fishes.
The story goes that thousands of people came unannounced to a meeting of sorts between Jesus and his disciples. It was getting late and people were hungry. Jesus took a small boy’s bag lunch — five loaves of bread and two fish. After a blessing, he passed the lunch around and told everyone to take a portion.
The small bag lunch was miraculously enough to feed everyone.
Franklin County Community Meals Program, which provides hot meals at different sites around the county every week, has its own “loaves and fishes” story to tell.
It begins in the kitchen of Emily Clarke Whitney.
“So, I was on the board (of FCCMP) and a volunteer,” she says (her mom, Amy Clarke of Greenfield, was the longtime executive director of FCCMP). “And I had been making bagged lunches in my kitchen for distribution at the Wednesday night meal.” Because FCCMP does not have a Thursday night meal in Greenfield, between 60 and 80 bagged lunches are given to Wednesday diners at the Second Congregational Church so everyone would have a meal to rely on for the next day.
It was a big project, paid for though FCCMP’s budget. Whitney said she thought there had to be a way to get some lunches donated. “It would free up money to do other things. People will give if they are asked, and this community is very generous.”
So the first “400 Bag Challenge” was born in 2016. Whitney put the challenge out to her Facebook friends: Make a lunch entirely of shelf-stable, non-perishable foods (like soup, crackers, applesauce and a juice box).
“I thought if I could get 40 people to make 10 lunches, we would have enough for a few weeks,” she says. “That was the goal. We scheduled it around February vacation week. I thought it would be a great project for families so kids could help.”
The idea caught fire. The goal of 400 was quickly passed. Last February, just shy of 1,200 bag lunches were donated.
“Honestly, I was blown away by the reaction to this,” she says.
There were two more events in 2016, netting more than 3,000 lunches. In late February, it was time for the first collection of 2017, and the community did not disappoint.
According to Andrea Leibson, executive director of FCCMP, just over 1,700 lunches were donated. And there was enough additional food given so that the FCCMP could make an extra 135.
Lunches came from 60 different groups — like the YMCA in Greenfield’s Leaders Club and students at Erving Elementary School — and individuals, according to data from the FCCMP. There were 37 first-time participants. Three individuals have participated in each of the four events.
On the collection Sunday at Second Congo, Leibson was directing traffic and smiling broadly. “We could not afford to keep this up in our budget,” Leibson said matter-of-factly. “These lunches mean that the hungry among us know that their community cares for them. Each one of these bags will make a difference.” The lunches are stored at the church in big plastic totes.
The sweetest part of this project comes from the kids involved. Many of the bags are decorated with drawings or messages. One bag simply said, “I like soup!” in red marker. Their bags adorned with stickers and flowers and smiley faces.
“That’s the thing that gets me,” Whitney says. “I love the little messages from kids. It’s hard sometimes to talk to your kids about things like this. This is a way for them to understand the importance of giving back.”
That idea of giving back is exactly why Dave Garappolo, youth and family director at the Greenfield YMCA, got his Leaders Club involved.
“Funny enough, my son goes to school with Emily Whitney’s son, Sam,” Garappolo said. “She just put it out there asking people to help. So I went to my Leaders Club and said, ‘hey, guys, would you like to participate in this?’ And they were immediately enthusiastic about it.
“A couple kids asked me ‘why do we need these bags and what are they for?’ It was a chance to explain about the meals program and about the importance of giving back. The Y has done a community meal for years now, and I have taken Leaders Clubs in the past over to the meal. There’s kids that they know from the Y or from school that they see coming to these meals. It gives them a good feeling to give back and to help those who are less fortunate than they are, who had a hard time getting access to food.”
The Leaders Club donated 134 bagged lunches and six grocery bags of extra food that went straight to the FCCMP’s food pantry.
“It was a great project for us,” Garappolo said. “We’ll probably do it again.”
For those who would like to donate to Franklin County Community Meals Program, contact Leibson at fccmp.org or calling 413-772-1033. There is a “Donate Now” button on the website for immediate, secure donations.
Deena Ferguson had her first newspaper story published at age 15. She has worn many professional hats but likes the one that says “writer” best. She loves to eat but hates to cook, which is why the dog treat cupboard is the only one she keeps stocked.