 | 
| | Providing choices for our guests is an important way of showing respect and love.
|  |
| |
Rosie's Place Groceries is a food pantry that allows 1,250 women each month to take home 20 to 40 pounds of foods that their families prefer and enjoy. While many pantries distribute pre-bagged groceries, our guests shop among shelves set up like a grocery store, choosing from juice, cereal, canned goods and more. Some days, the freezer is stocked with meat; on others, our produce bins overflow with fresh fruits and vegetables. Similar to the Dining Room, Rosie’s Place Groceries uses this culturally sensitive approach to respect the dignity and self-esteem of our guests while ensuring that our valuable resources are used effectively.
In other ways, Rosie's Place Groceries is exactly like other food pantries. We have seen striking increases -- just as other pantries have seen record numbers of households looking for help. More and more of the shoppers at Groceries are working, but their paychecks just don't stretch far enough to cover rent and heat -- and food. Plus, many of the guests who take advantage of Groceries are not able to receive assistance through the Food Stamp program due to federal cuts to the program and roadblocks in the Massachusetts welfare department.
To help offset the cost of accommodating a growing number of guests seeking supplemental food assistance, Rosie’s Place encourages guests to use reusable shopping bags when they visit the pantry. By doing so, Rosie’s Place saves money on paper grocery bags, while guests get to choose an extra item from the store as an incentive!
|
|