GREAT BARRINGTON — Volunteers scurried around the multipurpose room of the Solidarity Meeting House on Friday morning, tucking broccoli into bags, scooping beans into smaller portions and stacking cartons of eggs.

Over a dozen volunteers spent Friday preparing groceries to be delivered to 200 vulnerable families to kick off Multicultural Bridge’s weekend of service in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The bags were filled with nutritious foods and staples chosen to reflect the diverse cultural backgrounds of the families receiving them.

“This is an example of love going out from inside the community,” CEO and founding director Gwendolyn VanSant said. “This is a part of our tradition, our solidarity kitchen, which we’re very proud of.”

Volunteer Seide Destin weighs out bags of beans as part of Multicultural Bridge’s mutual aid food assistance program in Great Barrington.

The mutual aid food distribution started in March 2020, initially serving 25 families. Over nearly six years, it has grown to support more than 200 families with culturally relevant, nutritious food.

VanSant credits the success of the program to its strong base of volunteers, who are dedicated to getting food out.

Tracy Johnson, one of the longest-serving volunteers, has worked with the mutual aid program since it started and has watched it grow. Each packing day, she goes wherever she is needed — from checking orders and packing bags to occasionally helping with deliveries.

“Donating monetarily is great, sometimes that’s what people have time for, but when they do have time to do anything else, they can step in anytime they would like, and if you do it once, it helps everybody,” Johnson said.

Louidia Orelien cooks a rice dish as part of Multicultural Bridge’s mutual aid food assistance program in Great Barrington.

The program operates weekly during peak farm season, biweekly during the rest of the warmer months and monthly during the winter. During colder months, distributions are often scheduled around holidays, with ingredients selected to reflect seasonal traditions.

During the farm season, food is sourced from BIPOC-owned and local farms, with an emphasis on purchasing culturally specific items that families want.

“We believe getting families nutrient-dense food is really helping reduce health disparities that show up in vulnerable families,” VanSant said. “This is a whole community that all comes together to make it happen."

Staff pack 200 bags of groceries and food as part of Multicultural Bridge’s mutual aid food assistance program in Great Barrington.

Bridge purchases the food wholesale using funds from the Community Health Improvement Plan grant, then volunteers and staff spend hours portioning and organizing distributions to ensure each family receives a balanced selection.

Any remaining items are added to bags for larger families. While the process is streamlined, it still requires several hours of coordinated effort.

“We make sure that there’s enough for everyone to have some,” Johnson said.

Lourdes Corrales has volunteered with Bridge for about four years, working frequently with the Women to Women program, a network of mentors for women of color. She said she continues to show up because “it is really important to help,” and because she values the people she works alongside.

Program Coordinator Estrella Cando gives direction to volunteers as they pack 200 bags of grocery and food donations as part of Multicultural Bridge’s mutual aid food assistance program in Great Barrington.

Program coordinator Estrella Cando said acquiring and distributing the food is a large team effort, but one that volunteers and staff enjoy.

“I love to help people, and this is something that brings us together and supports the community,” Cando said.

The model of mutual aid is an example of what MLK described as servant leadership, VanSant said, making it the perfect way to kick off a weekend of community-centric service.

Other activities include two afrobeat concerts at Barrington Hall, a Sunday service, a reading of the MLK speech, and a community conversation on trust and safety. Monday will be filled with actions of service at the Solidarity Meeting House.