How One Food Pantry Client Is Giving Back

Barbara Surujbally knows well how critical food pantries are to a family. Growing up, her mother fostered up to 10 children at any one time. To help feed their bustling home, she and her siblings depended on the Roslindale Food Pantry.

Today, Barbara is a young stay-at-home mother with a 1-year-old son, and she, too, depends on the Roslindale Food Pantry to make ends meet—and she also serves as a volunteer.

“To be able to give back as a volunteer, to the people in my community who have given so much to me, is rewarding,” Barbara says. Barbara volunteers up to 25 hours a week for the Roslindale Food Pantry. “Basically, I do anything and everything that the food pantry needs done,” she says.

“To be able to give back as a volunteer, to the people in my community who have given so much to me, is rewarding,” says Barbara.

Barbara adds that seeing the value of the food pantry from both sides, as a client and a volunteer, is eye opening. “I know the impact it’s had on my life,” she says. “As a volunteer I see the impact it has on others. It feels good when you see the gratitude and appreciation people have when they pick their food up here.”

This article was featured in our Fall 2022 issue of Harvest Newsletter.

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