Today we’d like to introduce you to Carla Szymanski.
Carla, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Rachel’s Table is a hunger relief organization that uses volunteers to deliver donated excess unused perishable and non-perishable food to 33 food pantries, soup kitchens, group homes, day programs, and shelters in Worcester. Food is donated from area restaurants, markets, schools, caterers, bakeries, companies, and individuals. It was started in 1989.
I heard about Rachel’s Table when it was started and they were looking for volunteers. It struck me as a great idea. I had 2 young children at home at the time and filed the idea away for when I had the time to volunteer. When my younger son entered school and I was looking for something to do I called them. I started out as a driver-picking up food donations and taking them to one of the agencies that received food.
A couple of years later I switched to being a volunteer dispatcher when there was a need. I worked from home coordinating food pickups and deliveries for the drivers. I loved doing this work-it was something that just made sense to me. I could take food from someplace that had too much and give it to someone who didn’t have enough. Good food wasn’t thrown away and when I dropped off this food to an agency needing help to feed people they were always so happy to receive it.
There’s something about seeing someone’s eyes light up when you bring in a box of fresh vegetables that makes you know you’re doing something worthwhile. I was eventually asked to join the board and then become board chair. In 1999 the director of Rachel’s Table left to take another job and asked me to take over for her. Since I had no experience in budgeting and finances we also hired a part-time accountant to take over that part of the job.
Besides the food rescue program Rachel’s Table also buys milk for children at 23 of the agencies we work with, provides fruits and vegetables for the city’s summer meal program for children when school is closed in the summer and school meals are not available, and provides the Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program with individually wrapped food and drink items for clients who come in without having anything to eat.
I’m responsible for overseeing these programs and doing all of the fundraising necessary to support them. We buy at least 728 gallons of milk every week and must raise enough money to accomplish this. We donate between $13,000-$20,000 a year for the summer produce program. All of this requires a lot of grant writing and fundraising. We ‘re a small organization with only 4 part time staff-myself, a Program Coordinator, an accountant and an Office Assistant.
Down the road, I was asked to join the board and then become the chair of the board.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s been a wonderful road. There’s wonderful satisfaction knowing that 15,000 children in Worcester will have milk to drink this year because of Rachel’s Table. That food pantries in the city will have more food to give out to clients. That a child will have the joy of her first peach on a hot summer’s day. That a couple of hundred families will have turkeys at Thanksgiving because of our help. That good, nourishing food is not being thrown away because we had a volunteer go out and pick it up and take it to a shelter or soup kitchen.
We provided almost half a million pound of food and milk at no charge-last year and that makes me proud of the work I do and this organization. Besides the work that I do to help people in need, the best part of this job is the people I meet. Our volunteers, most of whom are senior citizens because we operate during the day during the week and this works great for retired people, are such giving people. The people who run the agencies we work with are some of the nicest, most caring people I’ll ever know.
The hard part of the job is dealing with the fact that as much as we do, it’s not enough. It’s knowing that in our country there are people with no food in their home. As much milk as we buy, there’s still a need for more. Knowing that there are children going to school hungry and this keeps them from learning. It’s receiving the phone calls from people asking for help-hearing the embarrassment in their voice because they have to ask for help, explaining that they’re a senior citizen and they have no food in their house, talking about a sick child.
The other difficulty is coming up with enough funding. this job means constant grant writing and asking for money. Losing a grant will keep me up at night worrying about having to cut back on milk or summer produce at a time when help is needed more than ever.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Rachel’s Table story. Tell us more about the business.
Rachel’s Table is a hunger relief organization. We have about 70-75 volunteers at any time who work as drivers or phone dispatchers. The drivers use their own cars to pick up food donated from area restaurants, markets, businesses, schools, caterers, bakeries, individuals-anyone with unused excess food- and brings the food to one of 33 food pantries, shelters, group homes, day programs, or soup kitchens that we work with. Phone Dispatchers work at home and monitor our phone donation line and scheduled pickups with our drivers and agencies that receive food.
Our Children’s Milk Fund program provides at least 728 gallons of milk every week for children through 23 of the agencies we work with. This is the only regular source of donated milk in the area. there is no charge for the milk. The milk is either used within the agency or given to the child’s family to use at home, depending on the type of agency-such as pantry or shelter. when we have more funding we increase our milk purchases. Our Summer Produce Program buys fruits and vegetables for the summer meal program in the city.
Friendly House Neighborhood Center provides about 100,000 government-sponsored meals when schools-and their food programs-are not available in the summer. We help them to add fruits and vegetables to make the meals healthier and more appealing to the children. The cost of production makes it out of reach for many parents already struggling to feed their family. We provide individually wrapped food and drink for the Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program to give to clients who come in for services and haven’t had anything to eat.
When we hear of a need in the community that we think we can fill we do our best to fill that niche. though we have only 4 part-time staff we do what we can to help the hungry of Worcester. We define grassroots organization.
I am most proud of the fact that since we started in 1989 we’ve provided over 12 and half million pounds of food and milk to our community. Most of the donated food would have been thrown away if it wasn’t donated. About one-third of the donated food in Worcester comes from Rachel’s Table. We’re the only source of donated milk and donated summer produce for children. There are children who would not have a glass of milk in their day without our help.
I am very proud of all of the work that our volunteers due-they’re out there in all kinds of weather making sure that food donations are picked up and delivered to where they’re needed. We have volunteers in their 80’s and 90’s working for us. We have school children collecting food and money for us. I’m also proud of the fact that we work with other nonprofit organizations in Worcester so we can all do as much as we can to help people in need in the community.
Rachel’s table is a program of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is always present. You’d be surprised how many times we get a call at Thanksgiving from an agency asking if we have any turkeys and the next thing we know we get a call from someone with a turkey donation. A few years ago someone called asking if we could get baby food donations to help some of the shelters. Five minutes late a local church called to ask for a project that would do for us.
I also feel that sometimes it’s just a matter of good or bad luck that puts us in a place where we need help from others. I’ve learned that we’re a paycheck away from being able to feed our family.
Sometimes it’s luck that I hear of a new grant that I can apply for. But I’ve also learned that it takes luck mixed with hard work to make Rachel’s Table successful.
Contact Info:
- Address: 633 Salisbury St, Worcester, MA 01609
- Website: www.rachelstable.org
- Phone: 508-799-7699
- Email: carlaszyrt@gmail.com
- Facebook: Rachel’s Table
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