Copyright berkshireeagle
GREAT BARRINGTON — Buying a pizza from Berkshire Mountain Bakery today will do more than feed trick-or-treaters — it will help local residents who rely on SNAP benefits that aren’t being distributed this month. On one of the bakery’s busiest days of the year, it will donate a portion of its sales from its Housatonic location to Berkshire Agricultural Ventures Match Fund, said Dennis Iodice, director of operations at Berkshire Mountain Bakery. The goal is to raise at least $1,500 “People want pizza after they go trick-or-treating and we need to help people who are losing their SNAP, and so one of the ways that we can do that is by offering a dine to donate,” Iodice, said. Local businesses in the Berkshires are stepping up in their own ways to support the 22,000 people in Berkshire County who appear poised to not get their monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on Saturday due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Though benefits will not come through next month, for the first time in the history of the program, the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program, which uses state funds to purchase fruits and vegetables with an EBT card, will still be available to SNAP users who have any balance left on their EBT card. The BAV match gives SNAP users $30 to spend on SNAP-eligible foods at local farmers markets. Any SNAP user with a EBT card showing at least a penny is eligible for this funding until the shutdown ends. Food pantries and similar organizations are expecting a major increase in attendance, according to multiple food insecurity organizations in Berkshire County, as those in need scramble to make up for the loss of SNAP funding. “They need money to give people the SNAP match money,” Iodice said. “And it’s a win, win, win because not only are people getting money, but farmers are selling food, producers are getting business revenue that they wouldn’t otherwise have and we’re keeping it local.” Similarly, Bigg Daddy's Philly Steak House in North Adams is launching The Bigg Heart Meal, where every Monday and Thursday, kids under 18 can get a free meal, no questions asked. Kids just have to ask for The Bigg Heart Meal and can dine in or take out. Mondays are mini cheesesteak and fries and Thursdays are hot dogs and fries. “We here at Big Daddy's are just trying to support the community in any way possible with the division and financial devastation that we're facing with no [SNAP] benefits being provided for [42 million] Americans,” said Bigg Daddy's owner Xavier Jones. Also at Bigg Daddy’s, local people will be giving out food on Monday and Wednesday. To support that initiative, supporters are welcome to donate money, fruit, bottled water or their time. “We want to make sure that the kids have a nutritional value,” Jones said. “We're giving cheesesteaks and french fries on Monday, but we want to make sure that they have something to drink, so we're looking for bottles of water or fruit.” Throughout a typical year, Bigg Daddy has different ways of supporting the community, like feeding 25 families on Thanksgiving, but this year, Jones said he is hoping that number will be closer to 50. “So we're always supporting the community,” Jones said. “It is something that sits in my heart as a kid who came up in poverty, who used to be homeless. I always love to give back.” Hand Crafted Catering also is providing meals, owner Justin Carafotes said. Starting Monday, the company will drop off prepared dinners once a week to a small and growing list of families who have requested it. To request a meal, email hello@handcraftednyc.com. “Business has a responsibility to give back to the community,” Carafotes said. “It's a basic human right to have some food and so I'd urge any company that's in the financial position to do so, to help out, because it affects the community as a whole.” As someone who grew up with a mother who put herself through law school and once relied on assistance, Carafotes said he is motivated by a sense of corporate responsibility and personal experiences. “Anyone in the position to help out should, because there are all kinds of circumstances in life that can be why someone needs it,” he said. Iodice, of Berkshire Mountain Bakery, says supporting programs like Market Match is important “the bakery is owned by the community we feed,” as owner Richard Bourdon likes to say. “Other businesses are stepping up, it’s fantastic, but we need to keep doing what we can,” Iodice said. “It’s a small piece of the whole puzzle.” To Jones, this is a critical time during which people need to put aside their differences and come together to support one another. “We just got to rise up as a community,” Jones said. “Where there is no common ground, there is no community. So we've got to just come together. That's always been my message from the first time that I opened up a business here in the Berkshires.”
