GBFB and Greater Lynn Senior Services Celebrate Success

Each month, The Greater Boston Food Bank delivers 10,200 pounds of food to Greater Lynn Senior Services. This food is sorted by onsite volunteers and leaves in 660 Brown Bags, one for each senior in the Lynn Brown Bag program, which provides supplemental grocery items to seniors in need. While the program was successful the Lynn site presented a unique challenge. The loading dock was mis-aligned with the driveway and had a broken leveler plate, meaning that all 10,200 pounds of food had to be hand-unloaded, one box at a time, by GBFB staff and volunteers, presenting issues of safety and efficiency. In a joint effort by Greater Lynn Senior Services, The Greater Boston Food Bank, and a talented welder, the dock was repaired. On Friday, July 20, grocery items were able to be brought into the Greater Lynn Senior Center by the pallet full, alleviating concerns about safety and streamlining the brown bag process. “We had to figure out how to get our truck to line up with the dock and repair the leveler plate, and the Lynn folks had to change the entire flow of people and materials in their facility,” said Bob Hurley, GBFB Director of Warehousing and Logistics.  “Everyone compromised, and together we achieved a terrific result.  Unloading will now take less than 30 minutes with only a two people versus 90 minutes and 6 to 8 people previously.”