Centre Street Food Pantry marks 15 years; eyes Waltham home

This year, the Centre Street Food Pantry is commemorating 15 years of supplying food and other essentials to people in need from six MetroWest communities. While the pantry is based in Newton, more than 50% of its clients live in Waltham.

At a celebration on March 19 at Wellesley’s Papa Razzi that was sponsored by Newport Restaurant Group, volunteers and local officials mingled, chatted and learned about the pantry’s reach. Waltham Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy attended with a proclamation of support from the city. “The pantry does very good work,” she said. 

The pantry is open Tuesdays and occasional Saturdays. Clients can visit once a month. Aside from Waltham, the other communities covered by the pantry are Brookline, Needham, Newton, Watertown and Wellesley.

In 2025, 1,100 families relied on the pantry each month for a total of over 51,000 people served and 990,000 pounds of food delivered. This amounted to 66,000 grocery bags filled with produce, protein, dairy, groceries and personal care items. Accomplishing this work involved four staff members, 250 volunteers and 1,800 donors.

The pantry started in 2014 using basement space donated by Trinity Parish in Newton Centre through the initiative of the Rev. Todd Miller. Margaret Hummel, one of the first volunteers, remembered the pantry’s humble beginnings. “The very first day it opened, I was there with [pantry manager] Amy McGregor-Radin. We sat at the Trinity downstairs and wondered if anyone would show up,” she said. But 11 people did arrive that first day. By the end of 2019, the pantry served about 300 households every month. 

As with much else in life, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted the pantry’s activities. It switched to an outdoor delivery model, and the monthly number of clients jumped to about 600.  Ongoing food insecurity in the region meant that the numbers continued to grow. One in three children in Massachusetts faces food insecurity, according to the pantry’s executive director Rose Saia.

Hoping to secure space in Waltham

The Pantry has several connections to the Waltham community, including supplying groceries to the Brandeis Food Bank. In 2025, it held a pop-up food distribution with Healthy Waltham. The pantry has been “in constant collaboration with Healthy Waltham,” said Taylor Lies, president of the pantry’s board. “There’s enough need for all of us [nonprofit organizations].”

Lies, who has been board president for four years and a volunteer for seven, saw his role as “shepherding away from COVID.” He named three goals: to maximize capacity at the pantry’s current location, to grow partnerships with corporations and nonprofits and to secure 5,000 square feet of space in Waltham to accommodate more clients. “We’d welcome conversations about any leads,” he said.

Recent innovations included an appointment model to reduce waiting time, special hours for seniors and a kit of cake mix, frosting, sprinkles and candles to help families celebrate their children’s birthdays. 

“We’re all about food, but kindness is part of our mission,” Saia said.