LYNN — Old Neighborhood Foods and Demakes Enterprises donated meat products Friday to students and families at Robert L. Ford Elementary School.
The event was part of United Way’s Community Schools Initiative. Old Neighborhood Foods also donated meat products to Washington STEM Elementary Thursday as part of the same initiative. Food was donated to 887 families and staff members between the two schools.
Each box contained 10 pounds of meat, which included cold cuts, sausage, and hot dogs.
“We’re always trying to help the youth of the community,” said Tom Demakes, CEO of Old Neighborhood Foods. The Demakes family has also been involved with many charitable efforts in the past, including work with the Boys and Girls Club of Lynn and Lynn YMCA.
Amy Chruniak, Community School Director at the Ford School, was also at the event. She explained that about 93% of Ford’s students are high-need and that the idea for the event originated out of conversations with parents.
“A few parents mentioned that Demakes had done this food giveaway for families [in the past] and they had expressed how it was something that was really meaningful,” Chruniak said. “I had the opportunity through United Way to meet with Mr. Demakes, and I let him know that the families were really appreciative of it, and that it was something they would love to have come back, and he was like ‘Okay, well then let’s do it again.’”
Renée Omolade, Senior Director of Community Schools at United Way of Massachusetts Bay, said that the United Way Community Schools initiative is a “national model that really focuses on the needs of the whole child so that they have everything they need to show up to school and learn and be successful.”
She explained that community school directors such as Chruniak act as “liaisons between the community and the schools that they serve,” interacting with families to identify needs and then activating community partnerships to help address those needs.
“United Way is really honored and excited to support Lynn Public Schools in launching the community school strategy,” Omolade added.
