Upcoming Closures!
The Newton Food Pantry will be closed on Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, April 30.
For Ed and Juliet Harrison, volunteering at the Newton Food Pantry is more than a weekly commitment. It’s something they do together, rooted in a shared belief that neighbors should look out for one another.
The Harrisons began volunteering with the Newton Food Pantry in 2022, looking for a meaningful way to reconnect with their community after the long isolation of the COVID pandemic. Their first stop was our Kids’ Bags program, a once-a-month Saturday effort whereby volunteers organize and pack 650 gift bags filled with healthy snacks and easy-to-prepare meals for children. Every family that visits the Newton Food Pantry with children ages 17 and younger at home receives one bag per child — a small but meaningful addition to the week’s worth of groceries they also receive.
A few years later, Ed expanded his volunteering to include client service hours. Most Wednesdays from 6–8 p.m., he volunteers during our final shift of the day, often working the meat station. There, he greets clients as they move through the pantry and helps distribute meat, fish and tofu. Before long, Juliet began signing up for the same shift, working across the way at the dairy and eggs station.
“It’s not a date night,” Ed says with a laugh. “But it is something we can do together, which is nice. The people at the Newton Food Pantry — the other volunteers, the staff, everyone — are great. It’s hard to make new friends if you’re in your 50s, and there are a lot of really nice people here.”
The Harrisons are currently empty-nesters and work full-time jobs. Ed is a managing director at the Boston-based public relations firm InkHouse, while Juliet is a director of human resources at MathWorks. Their oldest son is a senior at the University of Vermont, and their youngest is now a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh. With more flexibility in their schedules, Ed says volunteering has become a regular and rewarding part of the couple’s week.
“It’s pretty easy to see how awful the world is at times,” says Ed. “This is a real and concrete thing where we can help.”
For more information about volunteering opportunities at the Newton Food Pantry, please contact Client & Volunteer Engagement Manager Aimee Lambert at alambert@newtonfoodpantry.org.