Food security for families in need of food.

High Road Farm is a diversified vegetable farm focused on growing nutrient dense food for their local community and beyond. This will be the second year High Road Farm will be working with a non-profit to provide subsidized CSA shares for food insecure families. The connection by our community member, Nathan, has created this unique opportunity to collaborate with a grassroots organization based in Lynn. Our farm presently provides food to local grocers, a living facility for seniors, local market and a CSA of over 75 local families. High Road Farm’s Owner and Operator, Mac, has degrees in Psychology and Sociology. Working in the off season in inpatient Psychiatry, Mac has become all too familiar with the crippling stress and lack of resources many families have experienced in the past year. The availability of fresh, local and nutrient dense food can be an empowering and lifestyle changing resource to share with families experiencing hardships. High Road Farm is excited to participate in this collaboration and hopes this is the first year of many we can offer this opportunity! 

Weekly distribution and community connections are provided by North Shore Families Together

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The partnership also is extended with,

North Shore Families Together (NSFT) was started by Yamila Ruiz and Nick Coppola, a Lynn couple. Together, they launched NSFT in their home garage following the founding principles of mutual aid at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. What started with bringing some groceries to two Lynn families in need on March 12, 2020 has now grown to servicing over 50+ families in Lynn, Revere, Marblehead, Swampscott, Malden, and Chelsea accounting for about 200 individuals in their weekly delivery network. They offer support with the following:

- weekly deliveries of shelf-stable groceries and personal hygiene items;

- weekly deliveries of diaper, formula, wipes for mothers with babies;

- daily lunch drop-offs for families with young children;

- hot meals for Covid-positive patients or those in particularly dire straits;

- sourcing of household items- pots, pans, plates, for families getting settled;

- collecting and distributing other miscellaneous donations including books, toys, puzzles, etc.;

More than anything, this project has been a beautiful testament to the power of community. Mutual aid work is life-changing for anyone involved in the process. It's creating a community of solidarity, not charity. Little by little, with the community's help in sourcing and buying groceries, collecting monetary donations and doing delivery driving, we have helped more than 300 people (some have come off our list due to getting back to work, which is a good thing!). We've helped moms get formula and diapers, we've gathered & distributed culturally sensitive foods, and we are now even expanding to provide fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) thanks to help from High Road Farm in Newbury, MA. This is something we thought was logistically impossible when we first began. 

We knew from the very beginning this would not be a one-off thing. With unemployment rates soaring and little to no support from the government for hard-hit immigrant communities like ours, there will be a need for a long time and with help from our North Shore neighbors, we will continue to meet that need. The growing demand of food assistance cannot be filled by food pantries alone. By contributing to this GoFundMe you’re helping to secure, buy and distribute thousands of pounds of food to over 20 families in Lynn.

Contributing to this GoFundMe will provide: 

-Weekly produce

-Trucking/labor 

-Marketing to continue this collaboration 

-Education material/ recipes