Meet Lyn: Food Recipient and Volunteer

86-year-old Lyn is like many vulnerable seniors in our community living on a fixed income as living expenses climb. To help ensure she gets the food she needs to stay active and healthy, Lyn receives a variety of groceries each month – including fresh fruits and vegetables – through The Greater Boston Food Bank’s (GBFB) Brown Bag program, in partnership with Our Neighbor’s Table in Amesbury. This is her story.

“I was born and raised in Lynn, the tenth of thirteen children. My father was a baker, and he always said he wanted ‘a baker’s dozen.’ I moved to Amesbury in 1972, and began living in my apartment with the Housing Authority about ten years ago.

“The food from the Brown Bag program is very good, especially when you’re not feeling well and can’t get out. My favorite item is a whole chicken, because then I can make my cacciatore. (Take a look at GBFB’s chicken cacciatore recipe, designed by GBFB’s Registered Dieticians.) I have food in my freezer for the whole month, which is very good.

“I sort of fell into volunteering at the food distributions. I walked into the room and they needed help, so I started helping. It is a big operation, and we’re working hard from when the GBFB truck arrives with the food at 10:30 in the morning, when it gets unloaded and laid out, to around noon when we’re helping the final clients choose and bag their food items.

“Now, they have me at the sign-in table where I greet everyone and explain how things work. It’s fun! I’m the first one they see, so they know they better be good to me.”