Success Stories

5/26/24 BOL food helps homeless couple in Cambridge

Bread of Life’s evening meals can reach further than we imagine. “Ray”, one of our dinner guests, is without housing. Unable to work due to a mental health disability, he has been “couch-surfing” with a friend while he hopes for a housing opportunity he can afford. Over 30 years ago, his addiction to alcohol nearly killed him. He credits God with preserving his life and enabling him to be in recovery all these years. Ray often spends his evenings in Central Square Cambridge, talking with people he meets, sharing his story, telling them about God’s love. He was there the other night when he saw a couple that looked like they were in bad straights. They told him they had been homeless for several years and had not eaten in a couple of days. Ray often takes a to-go meal when he leaves the BOL dinner each evening. He reached into his bag and gave the couple with sandwiches, juice, bread and other foods he had, which they ate immediately. The woman was in tears as she told him how amazed she was at his kindness and generosity, like an angel to them.

5/9/24 Sharing a post from volunteer from Liberty Mutual Insurance

“Yesterday, I volunteered alongside some of my Liberty Mutual Insurance colleagues at Bread of Life as part of our #ServeWithLiberty program. I have so much respect for all the volunteers at Bread of Life who work tirelessly sorting, packing and delivering boxes of food to over 1,300 individuals in Malden, MA. Most of the people they serve are struggling financially, are elderly, sick, or have some level of disability. They also live alone. For them this is more than the delivery of food, it is hope. I signed up to do delivery and got to meet about 20 of them. For a couple of minutes I was welcomed into their world. "Look them in the eye when you meet them" - the good folks at Bread of Life said - "See them". Needless to say, the experience was very humbling and reminded me of how blessed most of us are and the responsibility we all have to give back. Thank you Liberty for facilitating this program and to my colleagues for making it such a strong bonding experience. I am ever grateful for my health, my family, the food on the table and the roof over my head.

4/4/24 Meeting unique needs of our community members

Our Grocery Delivery Program was scheduled to deliver a food order to a mobility-impaired senior citizen who lives with their cat and who had asked for cat food to be included if possible. The order was filled, but there was a mistake with the address so it didn't get delivered. When we found out, we remedied the problem. The senior emailed us: "Whoever delivered was very kind went out of their way to find right address! I got cat food and I'm happy. And it was raining, so that is 10 stars. That person, if they're paid, deserves a raise. They went back and got the food."

2/6/24 Our Nutrition Backpack Program in the Everett Public Schools is effective and popular!

The brightly colored string backpacks are full of nourishing breakfast, lunch and snack items that nourish students and their families as well. Teacher, Shane McNally relayed that the weekly bags of food "are truly a gift to our school. They contain a brilliant assortment of snacks that everyone will find some enjoyment in. At our school they have become very popular...A number of families in need receive bags each week." One of the students said "I would first like to thank you for always giving me one and for the person that always brings them." Another student said "My sister likes the noodles. I like the juice and the chips." A guidance counsel relayed this observation: “Two students that we consistently give food bags used to express a lot of stress and worry about food insecurity. After receiving consistent food bags, their worries have significantly decreased.”

2/2/24 From coordinator of volunteer group from St. Mary’s Church, Winchester

Eileen THANK YOU and Tyrone for making this afternoon so rewarding for our group! It was so good to meet you both and learn about the amazing work Bread of Life does in Malden and your surrounding communities. It was so impressive to learn about the volume of meals you provide and the different ways you do that. We were all happy to play a small part in making such a difference in so many people's lives. We are already excited to come back on February 8 and the kids are all planning to tell their friends about the experience so they consider joining us.

11/23/23 After the Thanksgiving Day Dinner meal at Malden HS

We received this note from a senior citizen who had a meal delivered to her: “I just received my Thanksgiving dinner. It looks delicious. And chocolate cake too! I love the hand drawn card with the hand drawn turkey. Thank you so much, Diana”