PICTURED FROM THE left: Jessica Drench, Owner, Mama Jean; Julie Unger, Owner, The Kitchen; Priscila DeSouza-Silveira, Melrose Business Development Manager/AVP, Northern Bank; and Jana Gimenez, Executive Director, The Food Drive. (The Kitchen Photo Credit)
MELROSE — The Northern Bank Charitable Foundation has awarded a $5000 grant to the Melrose Community Freezer program run by The Food Drive, a hunger relief and food rescue nonprofit based in Melrose. Founded in 1960, Northern Bank is a full-service bank dedicated to providing financial solutions to help their customers to realize their personal and business goals. Community giving has been at the heart of Northern Bank for over 60 years with a special focus on providing food, shelter and housing to families in their communities. The grant will support Community Meal Prep Clubs in partnership with two Melrose-based women-owned businesses, The Kitchen and Mama Jean.
The Melrose Community Freezer, a joint program of The Food Drive and First United Methodist Church of Melrose (FUMC), offers free nutritious, balanced frozen meals at FUMC every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. year-round. Meals are donated by local volunteer cooks and are available to anyone who needs them with no ID required. Since its launch in 2022, the Melrose Community Freezer program has provided over 3000 meals.
Community Meal Prep Clubs are service opportunities for groups of all kinds: corporate, civic, community and social. Led by Jessica Drench, chef/baker of Melrose-based Mama Jean and hosted by owner Julie Unger of The Kitchen cooking school and private event space in Melrose, participants prepare meals for the Melrose Community Freezer in a two-and-a- half-hour classes. The Northern Bank Charitable Foundation grant will enable the Kitchen and Mama Jean to schedule Meal Prep Club sessions at strategic times when meals for the freezer are most needed.
“The Food Drive believes that the key to providing food security for our community is through collaborations like these,” said Jana Gimenez, Executive Director of The Food Drive. “Change begins in our own neighborhoods by taking care of each other.”
Northern Bank invests in their communities by supporting the people who live and work there both by providing financial resources and by dedicating hours to volunteering for local organizations. Melrose Business Development Manager Priscila DeSouza-Silveira is a food rescue volunteer driver for The Food Drive recovering food that would have been wasted at local commercial donors and delivering it to local food pantries, shelters and low-income housing facilities as part of her commitment to her neighbors.
“We are honored to support the vital work of the Melrose Community Freezer program which is committed to hunger relief in our community,” said Priscila DeSouza-Silveira, Northern Bank Melrose Business Development Manager, AVP. “This grant highlights Northern Bank’s dedication in addressing food insecurity and fostering a stronger, more resilient community.”
If your company, nonprofit or community group is interested in participating in a Community Meal Prep Club to support the Melrose Community Freezer, please contact Jessica Drench at info@mamajeangoodness.com.
