CHARLESTOWN, MA – Harvest on Vine, an emergency food pantry here, run by Tom Macdonald has been serving some 600 needy families since 2003. The food (some 15,000 to 17,000 pounds, is distributed twice a month at 49 Vine Street – on the second Saturday at 10 a.m. and the last Tuesday at 7 p.m. and is limited to residents “struggling to make ends meet,” he explains. The food, he adds, includes items such as pasta, rice, cereal, canned fruit, vegetables, soup, milk and even basic toiletries including toilet paper, soap and more.
It began in 2003, Macdonald says. In August of this year, it had grown to serve 300 families with more than 14,000 lbs. of food. Harvest on Vine has a fundraising online auction for the pantry in August, starting at noon of the first day until 8 p.m. on the second. The auction includes such items as “A Taste of Charlestown” package with $100 gift certificates to five local restaurants – Warren Tavern, Monument Restaurant & Bar, Brewer’s Fork, Blackmoor Bar & Kitchen and Pier 6.
Participants can also choose a one-week stay in September in a three bedroom, two bath waterfront cottage at award winning Dennis Seashores, located on Nantucket Sound, a celebrity dinner for 10 in one’s home prepared and served by Chef Paul Wahlberg who goes to the person’s home with food and wine, cooks and serves the meal and cleans up afterward. Each of the six courses is paired with a different wine. The timing is on a weekday night, Monday through Thursday.
To help this group keep helping families each year, Harvest on Vine can be reached at 617-750-1937 or by email at Tmacdonald03@yahoo.com.