Distribution Numbers Are Growing in City Food Hub Helping Hundreds of Revere Families

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is moving slowly out of the medical spotlight in the United States, the humanitarian efforts of the Revere Food Hub continue, with workers and volunteers at the food pantry distributing food to hundreds of Revere families each week.

The Revere Food Hub, located at 200 Winthrop Ave., former home to the Revere League for Special Needs, is part of the  Community Health and Engagement Department led by Director Dimple Rana, one of the unsung heroes of the city’s COVID-19 emergency response team.

Megan Witter is the co-coordinator of the Food Hub while Britney Sao is the assistant to the director.

Mayor Brian Arrigo has been tremendously supportive of the operations at the Revere food property and is a frequent visitor to the site.

Serving 500 Revere Families Each Week

The First Congregational Church of Revere, founded in 1983, had been serving 60 to 80 families per week prior to the pandemic. When those numbers began to grow during the pandemic, the Revere Food Hub stepped in to help coordinate and oversee the effort by the non-profit.

“We’re feeding almost 500 families now, more than the height of the pandemic,” said Witter. “We’re seeing a surge that we’ve never experienced before.”

Rana also affirmed that there are more families coming to the Revere Food Pantry’s emergency food distribution center than at any point in its two-year existence at the Winthrop Avenue site.

“Even though COVID rates have slowed down, the need for food, housing, and other services are in huge demand by residents of the city,” said Rana.

The city’s food distribution program takes place Wednesdays (6-8 p.m.). There is also a “Food for Free” box program Thursdays at the Revere Food Hub.

The distribution effort takes hours of preparation and involves work by many volunteers.

“We start letting clients in the drive-up line at 6 o’clock and we open for distribution at 6:15 until 8 p.m.,” said Witter. “We do have a walk-up area for people who do not drive, take the MBTA, or walk to the pantry.”

The food distribution process has become a very well-organized effort. “We serve almost 500 families in an hour-and-forty-five minutes. It takes a whole village,” said Witter. “We have a combination of volunteers and ambassadors that work for the Health and Engagement Department and help us as well.”

Witter said she is often asked why the number of families coming to the food pantry continues to rise.

“We go to a lot of webinars and meetings about food pantries and food insecurity, and it seems like the pandemic has clearly opened up the floodgates and we’ve formed friendships and relationships with our clients, and they trust us,” said Witter. “I think it’s important that we’ve been able to create a really good culture in regard to people needing something and us being able to give it to them.”

Witter said the skyrocketing prices of food due to inflation has also led to many families needing assistance from the Revere food pantry. “And I think it takes years to come back from any economic crisis [such as the one caused by the pandemic]. But I think also that people feel more comfortable reaching out to us when they are in need, and that’s important to me. I imagine people didn’t know about this [food pantry] before.”

Rana believes the city is in the beginning stages of a post-COVID recovery, “but for many people, it’s about survival, because many people are still in the recovery phase.”

“Some people have issues such as not being able to pay their rent, and the cost of food and gasoline is skyrocketing, so there’s a number of reasons why there is an increase in people visiting our food pantry,” said Rana. “But it’s happening across the board, not just here in Revere.”