Two teens tackle problem of hunger in Chicopee

Two teens tackle problem of hunger in Chicopee

By Kathleen Mitchell
Staff writer

CHICOPEE – Danielle Dobosz and Lisa Mindell are exceptional teenagers. The two Chicopee High School students, who are entering their senior year this fall, have spent four years as junior members on the Board of Directors of Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry. They have also devoted countless hours to making a difference in the community and are passionate about helping to raise funds and soliciting help from student volunteers to ensure that no one in the city goes hungry.
“I am very proud of them,” said Al Picard, president of Lorraine’s Board of Directors. “It’s been a joy to watch the transformation of these two young women. They started out wanting to learn more about Lorraine’s and have grown into advocates and full participants on the Board. They continuously engage in community service work in meaningful ways and have helped coordinate fundraisers among their peers, attended them and done extraordinary work. This has become an integral part of their lives and they will both be outstanding community leaders in the future.”
The teens’ interest in Lorraine’s began when they were in the eighth grade at Bellamy Middle School. They are participants in the Resources for Enrichment and Advancement program, known as REACH, which is designed to challenge academically advanced students. The program includes complex projects and problem solving, and they had been given an assignment to identify a problem in the community and come up with a solution.
Their advisor, Irene Czierwiec, had Picard, who was then vice principal at Bellamy and a board member at Lorraines, speak to the class about the soup kitchen and their quest to find a new location after the organization received a notice that they would have to relocate from their home in Chicopee Center.
“Our group of 12 students decided to raise money and awareness about Lorraine’s. We wanted to change the perception people had about their clients and let people know they truly needed help and were going through tough times,” Mindell said.
Dobosz agreed, “We did a lot of research on the stereotypes people have about the soup kitchen’s patrons,” she said. “It bothered us that so many people held stereotypes and that what they believed wasn’t true.” She added that they had visited Lorraines’s, met some of the people who used the facility and saw the empty shelves, as the pantry’s food supply was very low at the time.
Although Callaway Golf had offered the non-profit soup kitchen a piece of land on 170 Pendexter Ave. to use as a site for a new building, a number of neighbors opposed the idea. Opinions were voiced during a public hearing and City Council meeting that Mindell and Dobosz chose to attend.
They were both surprised at the reactions they heard and spoke out in favor of the new location.
“It was quite interesting and a great learning experience to see how Lorraine’s was viewed,” Mindell said. “There wasn’t much support from the neighbors at the time, which shocked us. It really changed how we approached our project. We became advocates, because it seemed as if no else was and we felt the donation of land was an amazing opportunity for Lorraine’s.”
Dobosz concurred. “We really defended the soup kitchen. And after the meeting, we started to get more interested in the project than the rest of our class,” she explained. “It registered that I could do a lot more for them than I had originally thought.”
Picard said neighbors initially had fears and concerns about the soup kitchen’s relocation to Pendexter Avenue. “But over time, their support has grown and is really wonderful. The neighbors are very supportive of our efforts and we are truly blessed with all that they have done for us since we opened this site two years ago,” he said.
When Picard returned to the REACH class after the City Council meeting, he was surprised at the transformation he saw in Mindell and Dobosz, “They had been quiet and soft spoken, but by the second meeting the two of them spoke very vociferously about their experiences at City Council. They wanted to know what else they could do,” he said.
Shortly after, they were invited to join the Board of Directors. The two teens were quiet during their first meetings. But they were active in school, heading up food drives and urging their classmates and sports teams to volunteer for fundraisers. They met with great success, and as their confidence grew and they saw that the adults on the Board truly respected their input and opinions, they became more assertive.
One of their first projects, associated with their eighth grade REACH project, was to organize and hold three neighborhood food drives. “We created flyers and distributed them, then picked all of the food up,” Mindell said.
They have continued to spearhead food drives at Chicopee High School. “We like to make things happen. It’s great to have such an instrumental role. The sports teams at our school do a lot with Lorraine’s and whenever we have an event or need volunteers, we go to the coaches,” Mindell said.
Last Spring, Lorraine’s piggybacked on the annual Parks Department city-wide cleanup effort, with the support of Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Stanley Walczak, School Superintendent Richard Rege Jr. and Mayor Michael Bissonnette.
Lorraine’s recruited more than 200 students and adults who obtained pledges and helped with the clean-up on April 30 in other areas of the city.
“Lisa and Danielle had their track team there and they also recruited the CHS ladies softball team and the boys’ track team,” Picard said. “There were between 90 and 100 students from Chicopee High School alone.”
Mindell said they have learned a lot from the experience and will continue to be advocates. “Not many young people have the opportunity to be so committed and play such an important role in the community. There is always something we can help out with and we have learned so much about what goes into creating a successful soup kitchen,” she said. “It takes a collaboration of people with different skills and insights. And when you see the faces of the people at Lorraine’s and how thankful they are to get help, it makes you more passionate,” she added. “We are lucky and so we should use our strengths to help others.”
Dobosz said it is rewarding to be a liaison between the school and the soup kitchen and her passion continues to grow. “There are kids who want to volunteer but don’t know about opportunities. Plus, the soup kitchen needs help. And the more I connect with people involved with the kitchen, the more personal and important it has become to me,” said the 17-year-old.