NeighborHealth and American Red Cross join forces to fight food insecurity with Thanksgiving turkey giveaway
BOSTON, November 26, 2025 – On Tuesday, November 25, the American Red Cross and NeighborHealth teamed up to provide Thanksgiving meals to more than 300 East Boston and Chelsea families. The special meal included frozen turkey, fresh cranberries, squash and dry fixings, providing nutritious and seasonal foods for home cooking.
NeighborHealth’s holiday food distribution is a special addition to their weekly food pantry that provides food, clothing, hygiene products, and care navigation to the community year-round, serving 2,000 families a year. The food program, housed in East Boston’s historic library building on Meridian Street, is made possible through the support and partnership of the American Red Cross Boston Food Pantry and food rescue organization Spoonfuls, as well as health center staff and volunteers whose efforts enable NeighborHealth to provide more than 10,000 pounds of food weekly to the community.
The American Red Cross has partnered with NeighborHealth for more than a decade, helping provide patients and community members with fresh, nutritious food as part of their Food is Medicine program, a concept that emphasizes the role of nutrition in preventing, managing, and treating chronic diseases and promoting overall health and wellbeing.
To sign up for the food pantry at 282 Meridian Street, residents should call NeighborHealth’s food support line at 617-568-4845, Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. or visit Community Resource and Wellness Center.
American Red Cross Massachusetts CEO Holly Grant and NeighborHealth Interim CEO Jamie Hazard discuss East Boston food distribution with NeighborHealth Director of Health Promotion Kathy Field.
NeighborHealth and American Red Cross leaders gather ahead of Tuesday turkey distribution. (From left to right) Jill Tobacco, RD, Volunteer, American Red Cross; Dr. Julio Mazul, Chief Medical Officer, NeighborHealth; Jeff Schuster, Senior Vice President of Operations, NeighborHealth; David Andre, Director, American Red Cross of Massachusetts Boston Food Pantry; Jamie Hazard, Interim CEO, NeighborHealth; Melanie Connolly, RD, CNSC, Volunteer, American Red Cross; Evonne Yang, Assistant Vice President, Clinical and Operational Excellence, NeighborHealth; Kathy Field, Director of Health Promotions, NeighborHealth.
NeighborHealth staff and volunteers unload more than 300 turkeys donated by American Red Cross at 282 Meridian Street in East Boston.
NeighborHealth Care Navigator Hanan Lahmouch helps prepare food items being distributed for Thanksgiving at the health center’s East Boston distribution site.
