This July, employees from 161 Worcester volunteered at Framingham Miracle Kitchen. Volunteers from KGA were inspired by the experience and ran an emergency drive for 22 pounds of hotdogs to help the kitchen coordinator plan the remaining summer meals. We interviewed KGA’s Betsy Pratt to get her take on the event.
BI: How and when did you get involved with Framingham Miracle Kitchen and what attracted you to this cause?
Betsy Pratt: I saw flyers in the elevators of KGA's office building about one month before the event. I signed up through email and shared what I was doing with a few of my colleagues here at KGA. We agreed to do it together! I was attracted to the cause because it seemed to be an impactful, direct way to help others in need. I have been wanting to reach out and volunteer for something like this for a while now. Also, the Miracle Kitchen is close to our place of work which made it quite convenient.
BI: Tell us about your experience at the Miracle Kitchen.
BP: I absolutely felt that we made an impact! We were able to interact directly with those coming into the Miracle Kitchen to eat--we cooked for them, waited on them, cleaned up....They were so appreciative! Almost everyone said thank you and quite a few people stopped into the kitchen afterward to express their gratitude for our help. It was such a rewarding experience! Working as a team, most of whom we had never met before, made the experience that much more gratifying. I think we all felt proud that we were able to come together as a team and deliver a three course meal to almost 70 people that night! I think we all felt quite close during those four hours.
BI: In your opinion, what is the most important work that the Miracle Kitchen does?
BP: Along with the most obvious benefit of giving less fortunate people a balanced, healthy meal, I think the 365 days a year meals shows them that people care--that there are people in the community that want to reach out and help others in need. The consistent hard work that goes into feeding this many people each night, the food that must be provided by others, and the friendly, caring manner in which this is provided gives people hope and hopefully, a feeling that they are not alone. People care. Feeding the children that came in and knowing they left having eaten a healthy, full meal probably moved me the most. And, as I mentioned, the gestures of gratitude.
BI: Tell us about the drive you created after the event. What did your co-workers think about it?
BP: At a recent team meeting I was able to talk about our experience to the others in our office. They were very interested and we agreed we would like to do it again with more of us sometime in the future!
BI: Do you have any other causes you care about or other things you like to do for fun?
BP: We have a social action committee here at KGA. This team plans volunteer activities for those employees who wish to participate, they research and choose charities to support, and coordinate community outreach initiatives throughout the year. KGA provides Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to organizations headquartered in New England. The primary offerings of the EAP include counseling, support and assistance to employees experiencing personal or work issues, experiencing stress, mental health issues, drug/alcohol issues, etc. I think the KGA team would lean toward participating in causes that involve helping people.
