GREENFIELD — In recognition of their service to the community, especially their work during the pandemic to feed those in need, a local deacon and his wife were given the Connecticut Valley Pomona Grange’s Public Service Award on Saturday.
“Today, we honor and present an award to Deacon John Leary and his wife, Donna Leary,” Roland Giguere, president of the Connecticut Valley Pomona Grange, said in a ceremony outside Blessed Sacrament Church. “They have been acting as God’s instruments to Earth. They have been feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely and praying for those in need.”
The Grange is a national nonprofit that aims to strengthen communities through service, education, advocacy and agricultural awareness. The Connecticut Valley Pomona Grange is a regional branch of the national organization.
Karlena Henry, lecturer with the Connecticut Valley Pomona Grange, helped select the couple for the award.
“He’s done a gazillion different community projects,” Henry said of John Leary. “The one that stood out to me was … the food drive at Beacon Field every Saturday. It was terrific, and it made a huge difference.”
For more than a decade, John and Donna Leary have run the Bread of Life Kitchen, a service similar to Meals on Wheels, that delivers hot, homemade meals to seniors and those who are housebound. In light of advisories set forth by the state earlier this year to limit the spread of COVID-19, John realized he had to adjust how he would help people in need.
So he asked the city for permission to set up a weekly grocery distribution center at Beacon Field on Saturdays. People drive up to the first-base side of the field, where volunteers load bags of cereal, canned soup, pasta, tuna, rice and beans, as well as frozen meats and fresh vegetables that are packed separately.
As of last week, they have distributed 170,000 pounds of food, according to the deacon.
John Leary said the award also recognizes all the people and organizations that make the work he does possible.
“It isn’t just one or two people that go into awards like this,” he said. “It’s just a tremendous, tremendous effort from the people that go down to the food bank to pick up the food … and then bag it … and distribute it.”
John Leary thanked the Grange for recognizing that.
“It’s just a wonderful opportunity to see faith in action,” he said. “That’s exactly what it is — we’re putting shoes on the gospel.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne