Credit: Ainsley Jay

All Saints Parish volunteers organize the food drive in the basement of the All Saints Parish building in Haverhill.

Just around an hour outside of Wayland, in Haverhill, the Haverhill All Saints Parish organizes a food drive the first and third Saturdays of every month to support families in need. On Saturday, Nov. 22, six high school students and several adults from Wayland’s Good Shepherd Parish traveled to Haverhill to participate.

The drive distributes goods directly to local families in the Haverhill area. While drive’s primary focus is local, it also also supports families in nearby areas like Groveland and Andover, where there is no active food pantry available.

The trip was organized by Wayland Good Shepherd Parish priest, Father Laurence “Ren,” who is acquainted with the priests in Haverhill. Wayland Good Shepherd Parish Deacon Colm McGarry notified parents to encourage their children to volunteer. During the food drive, volunteers from All Saints Parish and Wayland churchgoers organized the food and brought it out to the families.

“I go to Ursuline [Academy], and one of our models is “Serviam,” [which means] we go out and serve people and help people in need,” Ursuline Academy sophomore Manuella Kamara said. “There’s a lot of people struggling with food insecurity and are homeless, so being there [at the food drive] almost helped me in a way.”

The food drive was started by Mathew Joseph Navien, a member of All Saints Parish and a Central Catholic High School student, as an Eagle Scout project, the highest rank in Scouting America.

Navien passed away in 2005 while he was a freshman at Georgetown University. He was killed by a drunk driver.

At Central Catholic High School, a $37,232 scholarship in Navien’s name supports students with academic promise or financial need. The pantry Navien launched has been running for 20 years since his death.

“[Navien’s] mother helps us here, and we have a picture of Matt,” treasurer of Haverhill All Saints Parish food drive Sandy Carriker said. “His legacy lives on in this food pantry.”

The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) provides food to more than 600 partner agencies, including food pantries, across 190 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, including the All Saint’s Parish food drive in Haverhill. GBFB reports that it helps provide access to food for about 600,000 people each month.

In March, the Trump Administration canceled about $3.3 million worth of food scheduled for Massachusetts food banks, including nearly $2.3 million designated for GBFB, the equivalent of roughly 105,000 cases of food. Moreover, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget cuts led GBFB to lay off workers. In the Haverhill area, the decrease in food deliveries to local pantries has made it harder for families financially.

This past summer, the All Saint’s Parish food drive served an average of just under 200 families. Last year, before Thanksgiving, that number shot up to 264, as more families found themselves in difficult situations.

“It takes a lot of courage [for] people that have never found themselves in a situation where they need help,” Carriker said.

The All Saint’s Parish food drive receives food from the GBFB, and Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students from Haverhill High School volunteer at the drive.

“People just don’t understand that there are so many people that don’t have the resources that we need to live,” sophomore and food drive volunteer Edan Parker said. “We need to appreciate what we have more than we [already] do. ”

People who receive food at the drive must show identification or proof of address that shows that they live in Haverhill. According to Carriker, at the food drive on Nov. 22, served around over 200 familes.

“It’s important for us, who are entitled, to recognize that we should be giving back,” Carriker said.