Westwood Food Pantry: A Crucial Community Resource

Operating behind the Westwood Council on Aging, Westwood Food Pantry * provides both grocery-like shopping experiences and home delivery to those in Westwood who struggle with food insecurity. Board member Trish Tucke reports “around 75% of our clients are elderly.”

Although clients may come in on the third Tuesday of the month and the first Saturday of the month by appointment, they may also arrange to have a Food Pantry volunteer delivery the food directly to their house. “[Delivery] also helps keep an extra set of eyes on them.” Tucke notes. On both occasions, the Westwood Food Pantry provides clients with between $50-$75 worth of food and other supplies, thereby freeing that money up to be used elsewhere in the client’s budget. The food comes from community donations, grocery store donations, and the frozen meat and some other items come from the Greater Boston Food Bank.

During the summer months, donations to the Westwood Food Pantry are rarer than they are during the holiday season, and the shelves at the food pantry are emptier. Donations are always great, but in particular the food pantry would welcome:

• Coffee and tea
• Condiments
• Canned fruit
• Cleaning products
• Health and beauty items

In order to sign up for the food pantry, persons in need meet with Tucke and provide proof of Westwood residency. You may contact her at westwoodfoodpantry@gmail.com. The Westwood Food Pantry is located at 60 Nahatan St in Westwood. In addition to in-kind donations, monetary donations and volunteers are always welcome.

*In the interest of full disclosure, members of this writer’s household have volunteered at the Westwood Food Pantry for over twenty years.