Stolen groceries delay lunch, but don’t dampen enthusiasm

A huge satchel of groceries was stolen from the curb in front of the Anna Bissonnette House (ABH) in the South End on July 14th. This heavy bag contained $60 worth of spinach, cheese, butter, summer squash, apricot nectar, crackers, and tomatoes that volunteers from British Telecom Conferencing were going to use to prepare lunch for the 40 frail and formerly homeless elders who permanently live at ABH. 

The satchel was on the curb for less than a minute, and was taken when volunteers were distracted by a bus melee while I parked three car lengths back. We discovered that it was missing after we had divided up the dishes to be cooked and were looking for the missing ingredients. (fyi: I filed a police report due to the outrageous nature of this theft, stealing from the needy, but don’t expect that anything will come of it.)

The seven volunteers and I adjusted the menu and someone rushed out to purchase some replacement groceries, only delaying lunch by 30 minutes and causing the cancellation of pre-lunch bingo.

We always say that our volunteers should be flexible and that our volunteer project managers should expect the unexpected, but the egregious nature of this theft really surprised me.

I thank the volunteers who made a delicious meal despite the early setback, and the understanding elders who understood why lunch was delayed and why we held a drawing instead of playing bingo as planned.