Soup maker's donation will help keep county veterans warm this winter
By Grant Welker Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Nov 10, 2009 @ 10:18 PM Last update Nov 11, 2009 @ 12:18 AM
Jack Foley|Herald News Arthur Boisclair, chairman of the Veterans' Association of Bristol County, leads the way to the freezers at the first shipment of food from Blount Fine Foods arrives. FALL RIVER — Veterans groups, like many other groups that rely on state aid and donations, could be facing a tough time with budget cuts and tightening wallets.
But Fall River area veterans won’t need to worry about one thing this winter: hot soup.
Blount Fine Foods, a Fall River-based processor of seafood, chowder, lobster bisque and other soups, has donated 12,000 cups to the Veterans’ Association of Bristol County. Volunteers stocked the first boxes at the veterans’ center on Pine Street on Tuesday.
“We’re going to just keep filling up the freezer,” said Veronica King, Blount’s senior director for human resources.
The 12,000 cups Blount will donate is far too much for the center’s freezer, so the company will deliver weekly, for about 1,000 servings a month over the next year. If more than that is needed, Blount will deliver more, said King, whose son is in the Army.
The Pine Street veterans’ center relies greatly on donations and volunteers. The building is stocked with donated clothes, food, movies and plateware. It has computers and games and gives support in other ways, like with disability claims or job applications. The same veterans who benefit from the center also help keep it running by cleaning, cooking and doing whatever else is necessary.
Driving the Blount truck to deliver the first boxes of soup was Vietnam veteran Dick Taylor.
Meg Bouchard, the executive director, is working with a state-funded $75,000 budget, 25 percent lower than last year’s.
Between 35 and 45 vets visit the center on a typical weekday, Bouchard said, and between 200 and 300 receive food each month through the center with help from the food bank. About 1,200 veterans were given some kind of service by the association last month, she said.
“We turn down no veteran,” said Arthur Boisclair, the chairman of the Veterans’ Association of Bristol County. Boisclair, whose birthday falls on Veterans’ Day, is a third-generation vet.
Vets said Tuesday they’re thankful for the center, and appreciate every bit that is donated. Russell Braun, who has spent much of the last three years at the center, talked about how it’s made his and other veterans’ lives better in a wide range of ways.
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