Page 2 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, April 14, 2023 Malden High Key Club joins Bread of Life to battle food insecurity in our city Local students are weekly volunteers in food setup and distribution process By Haset Tesfaw Malden High School Blue and Gold E very Tuesday the Malden High School Key Club meets outside the school and heads over to the First Baptist Church to start unpacking food for Bread of Life. Bread of Life is a group that has come together to prepare food bundles and distribute them to people who are experiencing food insecurity. Their main goal is to help and contribute to the community as much as they can. Allison Yu, MHS Key Club president, explained how the match was made: “I’m a worker at the Malden Teen Enrichment Center and the people at Bread of Life said that they needed people on Tuesdays to help them unpack bulk food items and originally I thought that Key Club could be a good use of having members go there and help them unpack. “But it became more of a thing where we stayed to actually help them pack the food and hand them out to the people who receive their food,” Yu said. Everyone in Key Club just www.eight10barandgrille.com OPEN DAILY FOR DINNER AT 4 PM. CATCH THE CELTICS, BRUINS & NCAA SPORTS ON OUR 6 LARGE SCREEN TV'S! om wants to benefi t the community and help out as much as they can, as they know that everyone needs help in some way and that some people out there are struggling. The students who volunteer are productive and get a lot of food packed and ready to go even in just the few hours a week that they are volunteering. Not only do they work hard, but they work fast. “I volunteer to help out the community and to see however I can help out and benefi t as much as possible. So through Key Club and other organizations, it’s just good to be involved in your community and see how you can help it as much as possible,” Nick Duggan, Key Club’s incoming 2023-2024 school year president, said. Together they work to creWE'RE OPEN! 8 Norwood Street, Everett (617) 387-9810 ate a fun but productive environment in which they pack as many meals as they can in the allotted time. The volunteers meet up at the First Baptist Church, where they start MEALS ’R US: Incoming Malden High Key Club President Nick Duggan and other club members help prepare meals to go for those in need in the Malden community. (Courtesy Photos/ Haset Tesfaw/MHS Blue and Gold) unpacking the food from the van that arrives at around 2:30; at 5:30 they start preparing for the people lined up, and at 6:30 they start to close up. Bread of Life packs foods like apples, juices, bread, croissants and more. They have a variety of great foods for people who need them. The volunteers help out for many reasons but mostly because they want to be more active and help out in their community. “I think that as president at the beginning, I was kind of trying to rebrand the club to something not just for people to get hours and just leave. It has to be a place where you can have fun and you get to volunteer and help with the commuHELPING OUT: Malden High School Key Club members help pack and distribute food bundles for those in need from the Malden community, as part of the eff orts of Bread of Life. READY TO GO: Food items are ready to go for distribution by the Malden High Key Club and Bread of Life. nity,” Yu said. “We also wanted to give members a chance to explore diff erent parts of the city and parts of Boston, and also participate in activities that they wouldn’t usually do like helping kids out in sports, doing Bread of Life activities, or cheering for walkers at the Alzheimer’s Walk,” Allison Yu says, as she talks about her overall experience being president. Duggan said he also has the same future goals and thinks that he has a lot that he can offer to this club. Overall, the Key Club wishes to increase participation and the number of events so that the volunteers can help out their community even more.
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