Operation Frontline Alleviates Hunger and Poverty

At Brighton/Brookline Senior Housing

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

BRIGHTON - Helping others to help themselves is the aim behind Operation Frontline/Share Our Strength’s mission to reduce hunger and poverty in low-income and elderly populations. Through education on healthy shopping, cooking and eating, the organization seeks to promote heathier lifetime habits, as it also provides food assistance, job training, and economic development among its clientele.

In addition to the classes and talks the national group conducts at schools and community centers, OFL sponsors ongoing series of classes which meet once a week at Brookline/Brighton Housing Authority buildings. Volunteer celebrity chefs as well as nutrition professionals cook and shop with attendees, who receive groceries and certificates for food and kitchen items from the Brookline Bread and Circus store, which collaborates in the effort.

OFL Class Coordinator Kim Sherman comes from a background focused on giving back. She grew up in Amherst, MA and attended Sunday and Hebrew school at the Jewish Community of Amherst. “I was lucky to have had creative and progressive Hebrew school teachers,” she recalled, “who pushed us beyond the alef-bet, to pursue tikkun olam. Whether it was collecting tzedaka for a local animal shelter, planting trees, or bringing Purim baskets to nursing homes, social action was an integral part of my upbringing and played a role in shaping my values and interests.” Sherman was active in Young Judaea, which organized community service projects ranging from helping to paint local shelters to performing talent shows at senior centers. While teaching at schools in rural Costa Rica and in Lesotho, Southern Africa, she observed the toll abject hunger placed upon the potential of both children and the elderly. She came back determined to help make a difference, and found OFL’s Share Our Strength program to be a good match.

“I wanted to work for an organization that was fighting poverty, and Share our Strength's philosophy that ‘everyone has a strength to share in the fight against hunger’ appealed to me,” she said. “Each week at OFL I am amazed by the dedication and talent of our volunteers as I watch them teach children how to roll out pizza dough, or lead seniors in a spirited game of food pyramid bingo.”

Kate Selby, OFL’s AmeriCorps/VISTA External Relations

Coordinator, organizes the group’s dessert promotions, where local bakeries donate a percentage of the profits from a chosen product for the hunger effort. Tikkun Olum too was instilled in her upbringing. Selby’s mother, Anne Selby, was the President of her elementary school, Cohen Hillel Academy; she is currently active at the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore, is North Shore Chair of the Anti-Defamation League, and is active with the Jewish Federation. Her grandfather, Ralph Kaplan, works for many Jewish organizations, and is particularly devoted to Israel Bonds and Ben Gurion University. “My school,” she said, “dedicated our seventh grade year to tzedakah, and each month, embarked on a different volunteer project in the community.”

She took a “Let’s Go Israel” trip at age 16 and following graduation from Duke University in 2001, decided to enroll in AmeriCorps.

“I have spent the past year recruiting new chefs and nutritionists to teach Operation Frontline’s healthy cooking classes,” she said, “expanding the program to reach additional low-income people and communities, and increasing fundraising so Operation Frontline will have the capacity to serve more people in the future.”

“While I'm constantly learning more about the complexity and severity of local hunger,” said Sherman, “I also have the opportunity to see the positive impact that dedicated volunteers and enthusiastic participants can have on the health of our communities.”

Operation Frontline’s Share Our Strength, in collaboration with Bread & Circus/Whole Foods Market, holds classes at the Allston/Brighton Head Start location as well. For information, call 617-267-5828 or visit www.strength.org/ma_operationfrontline.htm.