Buonamici, a microbiologist and venture capitalist with two kids of her own, is one of about 30 volunteers who help package fresh and imperishable food boxes along with supplies like paper towels, toilet paper and diapers and deliver them weekly to roughly half the families served by the 128-year-old agency.
Maicharia Weir Lytle, the USES president for the last five years, launched the Neighbor to Neighbor Fund for Families, along with components like its food program, as a way to assist many of the 225 families that depend on the venerable agency for services.
The food program currently serves 135 households – helping to nourish about 500 South End residents with once-a-week deliveries on Fridays by volunteers and some of the 44 staff.
The initiative also connects families like Cruzado’s and Buonamici’s in the racial and income melting pot of the South End, where children from subsidized housing and gentrified townhouses often study at the same schools, play in the same parks and attend the same programs.
The Neighbor to Neighbor Fund has financed the food program as well as cash subsidies to help families pay rent and cover other essential needs, providing $18,000 so far this year to 30 households.
