Bread of life News Articles

News Article from 2012 The last thing Steve Hart expected - or wanted - to be was homeless. But when a fire destroyed his home in Everett in December 2010, right before Christmas, the single dad and his 5-year-old son were placed in a motel by the state for almost one year. “We could’ve been on the street. We just kept positive,’’ said Hart, who recently moved into an apartment in Roxbury with his son and is studying to be a minister, so he can help others as he has been helped. Mary Beth Leon, who works at Frannie’s, a popular restaurant in Malden’s Maplewood Square, never expected to cook for 40 people at one time. But listening to George Laskey, a customer, talk about his longtime work for Bread of Life - especially serving almost 200 meals on Tuesdays at a nearby motel - Leon asked how she could help. There’s no dinner bell rung. No shouts of “Dinner!’’ in the street. And no complaints - just gratitude - when Bread of Life, a faith-based volunteer organization in Malden, is serving free weekly meals to the hungry, homeless, and isolated. In 2011, Bread of Life distributed the equivalent of 891,000 free meals

Article from 2011 The first element was the sit down dinner at Malden High School Thanksgiving afternoon. All food was donated by Anthony’s in Malden, Marty’s Caterers in Stoneham, the Salemwood School, Knights of Columbus, the Mayor’s office, local churches and donors from the community. Bread of Life volunteers met the night before to prepare the dinner, and the Malden High School kitchen was packed with volunteers cutting turkeys, collecting deserts and assembling the plates. “Everyone here wants to give, wants to make the community a better place and wants to help people” said Synder. Approximately 450 plates were made for the dinner; Synder said about 300 people came to the sit down dinner and they were welcome to bring a plate to someone who was not able to attend. Synder said the best part of the sit down dinner was that it brings the whole community together, saying during dinner people connected and shared what they are most thankful for. The other two components to the Bread of Life Thanksgiving event were deliveries to seniors who receive Meals on Wheels deom the Mystic Valley Elder Services and homeless families temporarily living in motels in Malden. Synder also added that along with providing the hot meals, the Bread of Life organization gave out an additional 400 turkeys to families in need. Bill Petcos, the Kitchen Coordinator, said he was amazed by the amount of volunteers who donated their time on Thanksgiving Day. Petcos explained that people work, have their own families, need to shop and cook for their holiday and then still find the time to contribute to this event is remarkable.

News from 2010 On July 14, Christine Falzarano (pictured left), Vice President and CRA officer of Eagle Bank, presented Gabriella Snyder Stelmack, Special Projects Coordinator for Bread of Life, with a check for $5,000 to support Bread of Life’s mission to help the hungry and homeless. Founded in 1980, Bread of Life provides free meals, a food pantry, grocery service, and much more to those in need in local communities such as Everett, Malden, and Medford.