When friends Vickie Schnoes and Tom began the Brookline Food Co-Op more than fifteen years ago, they never thought the community would take to it the way it has. The Co-op receives donations from restaurants, bakeries, and supermarkets; such as Whole Foods, When Pigs Fly Bakery of Brookline, Starbucks, The Capital Grille on Chesnut Hill and The Brookline Farmers Market. Thanks to these donations, the co-op feeds between 900 and 1,500 people a week. Originally involved in community service as a condition of receiving living assistance and food stamps, Vickie Schnoes works to feed others year round; rain or shine.
Brookline Food Co-Op is made up solely of Tom and Vickie, who each drive a van delivering food to over eight different subsidized housing locations weekly. However, the co-op doesn’t just feed those in subsidized housing. Explaining that when they see people on the street, they stop and give them food, Vickie recalls a Charlestown man she has given food to several times. He has a wife and twins, and he isn’t the only one in that situation, part of the food in the van during our interview was picked up by a woman who takes the food out to seven families living under a bridge.
In a country where each year 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness, many would consider what Vickie is doing a heroic act of kindness, but to those who know her, it’s just another day helping those in need. Those like Lucy of Brookline Village who recently moved here with her husband and three kids from Ghana, who like many came to this country seeking better opportunities than those she had in her own country admits that the co-op is helping her family eat “better than we ever dreamed.” Lucy herself takes care of about one hundred people in her community, many times going door to door delivering food to those who cannot go out and get it themselves.
Each meal is sealed, packaged and prepared for pick-up by the donating restaurant, supermarket or bakery. With several drop off locations, including many in Brookline, it is safe to say the food is being put to good use. “Glad to be providing food to anyone who needs it,” states Vickie.
If you or anyone you know is going through a tough time and cannot afford food or you would like more information on the Brookline Food Co-op, feel free to contact Vickie Schnoes at (617) 852-5967.
By Dayrimis Fleites