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Central Mass. groups work to fill void after USDA food program ends
Stephanie Jarvis Campbell
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
With the recent conclusion of the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program, many people have been left without the fresh fruits and vegetables those deliveries contained. But the need for food in the city is far from over, according to local pantries and nonprofits.
Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service partnered with distributors to purchase fresh produce, plus dairy and meat products. These family-sized boxes were then packaged by distributors and brought to food banks and community, nonprofit and faith-based organizations. More than 173 million boxes were delivered across the country from May 2020 to April of this year.
The program was designed to be temporary, but now, there is a void for families that depended on the boxes.
PUMA – under the umbrella of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, for which Medina is the Central Mass. regional organizer – ran a food outreach program from the Rock of Salvation Church. Throughout the pandemic, the organization worked with hundreds of families to distribute the USDA boxes, Medina said. She was able to procure boxes from different distributors participating in the program, including World Farmers in Lancaster and the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation, which is based on Cape Cod and has run its Food4Vets program for the last six years.
In addition to helping Medina, the MMSF set up a distribution site each week locally at the Worcester Railers lot that was open to anyone. Although the MMSF’s main objective is to support veterans, it stepped in to help Central Massachusetts during the pandemic, according to Tom Foley, a member of the group’s board of directors.
Now that the Farmers to Families program has ended, Medina is searching for ways to get food to the families. “I wake up in the morning and have breakfast with my son, and I think, ‘This is crazy.’ I can feel the ripple going through my heart, knowing that my brothers and sisters aren’t getting enough,” she said.
Medina said that although there are other food banks in the city, they are not always viable options for the people that PUMA helps. Many are homebound because they don’t drive, are disabled, may have an at-risk family member at home or are not vaccinated, she said. In addition, sometimes long lines at food pantries and hours of operation prevent people from utilizing certain pantries – plus, if fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy are available, it is quickly dispersed, Medina said.
“The phones had stopped ringing and now they’re ringing again – like they were a year ago,” she said.
Yes We Care, a nonprofit in Worcester that offers services and support to youth and families, also participated in the USDA program. A food hub was set up at Belmont AME Zion Church at 55 Illinois St., and by the end of the program, more than 5,000 boxes were distributed, according to the Rev. Clyde D. Talley, president and CEO of Yes We Care. What was beneficial about the program, he said, was that anyone could utilize it.
“It’s not just people who are distressed or poor. Life happens. People lose their jobs. There may have been a major expense in the house; now the money’s not there,” he said. “You never know somebody’s
Willie Wheeler and Monroe Pitman deliver food to cars outside Belmont A.M.E Zion Church in Worcester as part of the Yes We Care and USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program April 28. The USDA program has ended, but Yes We Care has partnered with the YMCA, the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging and the Worcester County Food Bank to continue providing food for those who need it. Several other local nonprofits and religious groups are working to fill the
void. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Nelly Medina is the lead organizer for the Parents Union of Massachusetts, or PUMA. PUMA – under the umbrella of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, for which Medina is the Central Mass. regional organizer – ran a food outreach program from the Rock of Salvation Church. SUBMITTED PHOTO
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situation. If they’re showing up for whatever reason, they need it.”
The organization currently has a partnership with the YMCA, the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging and the Worcester County Food Bank to continue providing food for those who need it; pick-up is now from 3 to 6 pm Fridays, which helps those who couldn’t make the previous midday time, when the distribution trucks arrived. Plus, people are now able to choose what they would like from that week’s selection, rather than the pre-picked boxes, Rev. Talley said.
Rev. Talley, who is also pastor of Belmont AME Zion Church, noted that it’s important to spread the word about available food hubs in the city. “There are some people who don’t know where to go because the food box program ended,” he said, adding, “My intent is not to do this just for COVID, but continuously.”
The El Buen Samaritano Food Program Inc. did not participate in the USDA program, but operates a pantry at 39 Piedmont St. that has been in existence for 30 years. “The problem has not stopped. The problem is still an issue,” Executive Director Mari Gonzalez said of food insecurity. “I even get other pantries coming to my pantry.”
El Buen Samaritano is open for pick-ups on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In May alone, the pantry served 762 households, said Gonzalez, whose parents began the organization in 1991.
Like Rev. Talley, her goal is to be open more days, but right now, the pantry runs off of volunteers and donations. Until then, she said, “I have a saying: Together we can do more. That’s now what we have to do as a city. We have to be unified so we can fight this together. We have to think outside the box to fight this fight in a beautiful, loving and kind way.”
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Richard Duckett
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
“To make music” and “To sing praise” are a couple of the definitions of the word “Zamar” from the Old Testament and the Book of Psalms.
More recently, “The Zamar Experience” has been defined as ballads and anthems giving glory to God through Trey McLaughlin’s richly arranged harmonies and beautiful blends.
Trey McLaughlin has his own conception of what he hopes people will take away from Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar when the Grammy Award-nominated gospel group performs at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts at 6 p.m. July 25 as part of the “Summer@MW” series presented by Music Worcester.
But the group, based in Augusta, Georgia, doesn’t just perform gospel music, McLaughlin said during a recent telephone interview.
What the music has in common is the vocal harmonization by McLaughlin, a composer, arranger, conductor, tenor vocalist singer, educator, and director of worship and arts at Tabernacle Baptist Church of Augusta.
You don’t have to be a Christian to be touched by the Zamar Experience.
“We want people to be uplifted by our presentation no matter what their belief system is,” McLaughlin said.
Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar has developed an extensive YouTube following that’s grown almost exponentially since the group recorded its 14-track debut album, “Limitless,” in 2012.
It has also toured the world, although touring performances have been put in check over the
past 16 months by the pandemic.
The group had originally been booked by Music Worcester for Jan. 15, but the performance was postponed.
The July 25 appearance here will be the group’s first in Worcester. Meanwhile, “Our touring program is just starting to get back up,” McLaughlin said. “We really missed it, so we can’t wait to get back to it.”
Asked if he comes from a musical background, McLaughlin said, “I actually don’t. My mother sings, but my family is not especially musical. They feel that God dropped me out of the sky.”
Was it a calling?
Regarding the music he listened to growing up, he laughed and said, “Everything … Through my mom I was exposed to a lot of different styles early on — soft rock, R&B, and of course, growing up in the Black church, gospel.”
McLaughlin was born in Augusta, and in high school was a member of the nonprofit performing arts organization Creative Impressions, serving as both president and student director. McLaughlin graduated
“We’re gospel primarily,” says Trey McLaughlin, “but we have a variety of different styles — pop, R&B, African, musical theater, jazz, a little bit of country. You’ll hear some covers, some adaptations, and you’ll hear some originals music. It’s a variety.”
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Trey McLaughlin
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from Columbus State University (The Schwob School of Music) in Columbus, Georgia, in 2009, with a degree in music performance with an emphasis on vocal pedagogy. While there he was member of its University Singers and Chorale and director of the Columbus State University Gospel Choir.
He has also conducted master classes and served as a guest vocal clinician for workshops and groups nationally and abroad. At Tabernacle Baptist Church of Augusta, he oversees 12 ministries and approximately 250 ministry volunteers.
McLaughlin has a terrific tenor voice in his own right, and Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar has its origins in McLaughlin getting some performing engagements right after he graduated from college, he said.
“I’m a shy individual,” he observed. “I didn’t like to go places alone.”
So he went to his performances with some friends, who would also perform with him.
“From there it started to become a group. And then we made it an official thing,” he said of Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar being formed in 2009.
“We have about 24 (singers) in all. I started with six.”
They have performed everywhere from church basements to international stages and alongside gospel greats like William McDowell, Kierra “Kiki” Sheard and James Fortune.
“They started off all being here but people would move away (from Augusta),” McLaughlin said of some group members. But they’d still drive or fly in to perform.
Group members are able to start getting back together again after months of being tied down/kept apart by the pandemic.
The gospel group Trey McLaughlin & The Sounds of Zamar will perform for Music Worcester at 6 p.m. July 25 at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Worcester PROMOTIONAL IMAGE
McLaughlin said he and the Sounds of Zamar have been “working on some new music that will be released before the end of the year and some tour dates that we’re super excited about.”
As for what they’ve learned over the course of the pandemic, he said, “I think it’s definitely caused us to value each other a lot more and value the time we spend together. It’s caused us to realize that what we have musically is special.”
The 6 p.m. July 25 performance of Trey McLaughlin & the Sounds of Zamar at The Hanover Theatre, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester, will have socially distanced assigned pod seating available in the front orchestra in rows AA-N and the loge in groups of two and four for $55 each. General admission seating is available in the rear orchestra and the balcony sections for $35 for adults and $25 for students. For more information about the show and a link to buy tickets, visit www.musicworcester.org.
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SEEHOWTOSTREAMITAT: SPORTSAWARDS.USATODAY.COM Polar Park to host comedy show to benefit the family of Officer Familia
Veer Mudambi
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
One would expect that organizing a comedy show with a line-up of some of New England’s best comedians on short notice would be a challenge. But when the cause is raising money for the family of the late Worcester Police Officer Emmanuel “Manny” Familia, the decision wasn’t hard for the comedians to make at all.
“Basically, all I had to do was say, ‘Hey there’s this worthwhile cause for a hero police officer’ and the reply was, ‘Sure, when do I have to be there?’” said Boston comedian Tony Viveiros, also known as Tony V. Through his long association with the Boston comedy scene, Viveiros has developed a wide network of contacts. Which is why John Fraioli reached out to him.
Officer Familia lost his life while trying to save teenager Troy Love, 14, who also drowned, at Green Hill Pond on June 4.
Billed as “A Night of Comedy for Familia,” the event begins at 7 p.m. July 20 at Polar Park, 100 Madison St, Worcester. Tickets are available online at mvp.tickets.com, starting at $30 per person.
Fraioli, a retired state trooper who works security for the WooSox at Polar Park, is organizing the event. He has been involved in other benefits for police officers killed in the line of duty as well. He observed that when the tragedy first happens, there is usually a great deal of attention due to the processions and funerals but then a month goes by and memory fades. “We try to do these events a short time after the wake and funeral, to bring people together and continue to show our support,” he said. Both Fraioli and Viveiros
Worcester Police Officer Enmanuel “Manny” Familia
PHOTO PROVIDED BY WORCESTER POLICE DEPARTMENT
Comedian Christine Hurley PROMOTIONAL IMAGES
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emphasize they have put together a line-up that could stand up against any comedy show in the country. “For $30, it’s kind of unbeatable,” Fraioli said with pride, referring to the cost of general admission, which includes seating in sections 1 to 7 and 11 to 16. Also available is Home Plate seating for $50, covering sections 8 to 10, closest to where the comedians will be performing. Both levels include concession and cash bar.
Manny Familia’s wife, as well as his 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, will be in attendance for the first of its kind show at Polar Park. It will feature some of Boston’s legendary comedians, including Lenny Clarke, Tony V, Dave Russo, Frank Santorelli and Christine Hurley, who performed on the show “America’s Got Talent,” along with several surprise appearances.
Viveiros reiterated that “we’re there to entertain people who put out money to help a family and it won’t be anything other than the best we can offer.” He recalled that most comedians were all coming off a pandemic year and a half so “we’re chomping at the bit to ply our craft and if someone says they have Polar Park, why wouldn’t we do that?”
This benefit will be the first comedy show at the new stadium. It’s a testament to the impact Familia’s death had on the city that the benefit is being held in such a large space.
Viveiros says that when he gets a call to do a benefit for a cause like this, “It’s not really asking, it’s telling,” adding that, “most of us come from a working class background so we know what it’s like ... and we have a little bit of guilt because what we have is hardly a job and we try to convince ourselves that it is.”
According to Viveiros, a number of the people in the show started many years ago and didn’t realize comedy was going to be a job. He himself got into it in the early ‘80s through Boston’s nascent comedy scene — “nobody knew you could do comedy at a local level — just sort of took off as clubs opened.” Lenny Clarke had started only a few months before so they were both in at the ground level. Viveiros first performed stand-up comedy in 1983 at Boston’s now-closed Comedy Connection. The host couldn’t pronounce the debuting comedian’s last name, so Viveiros was introduced as his now-alias Tony V.
Comedian Lenny Clarke
