Helping the Hungry by Giving Thanks

When Shane McColgan was an infant, his great-grandmother told everyone that Shane would “change the world one day.” But even she couldn’t have guessed it would happen so soon.

Shane, 11, of Carver, has been running his own food pantry, Shane Gives Thanks, since December 2016.

According to Shane’s mother, Krystle, it all started four years ago when the family saw a commercial on TV about hunger awareness. Shane asked his mother if there were hungry people in Carver. When she said yes, he replied, “how can I change that?”

Shane, then 7, began working with local churches to deliver boxes of food to people in need for Thanksgiving.  His ambition to help even more people grew.

When the local pantry closed in the fall of 2016, Shane and his family applied to the Carver Board of Selectmen to replace it.

“We opened in December 2016, and there were about 50 people who came that month. Last month we served 372 people,” Krystle said.

With that rapid growth, Shane and his family realized they couldn’t provide for them on only donations and grocery store purchases alone. They needed a partner who could meet the community’s growing needs. That’s where The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) came in.

“We noticed our numbers were growing fast, so we needed to buy more in bulk,” Krystle said. “We also couldn’t get the fresh fruits and vegetables we wanted to because they were so expensive.”

Shane Gives Thanks has received a total of 18,047 pounds of food—the equivalent of 15,000 meals–from GBFB in the first three months of our partnership.

Shane said he looks forward to doing even more for his community in the future.

“I was excited when we opened,” he said. “It makes me happy to help people in town.”