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Date: 9/28/2022
CHICOPEE – The team at Curry Nissan Chicopee on 765 Memorial Dr. raised funds and hosted a food drive for Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen in early September. Their efforts raised $3,325 and 410 pounds of food for the local pantry.
Business Development Center Manager at Curry Nissan Cassidy Laramee shared that the Nissan team donated funds for each car purchased during their fundraising event. Laramee said the organization was inspired to help the community during times of difficulty.
“We wanted to reach out and help our community right now. Everyone is struggling, so we reached out to Lorraine’s to see if we could help in anyway,” said Laramee in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
Food insecurity continues to be a prominent issue in Chicopee. According to Fruit Fair Supermarket owner Samaita Newell, the city currently features a food insecurity rate above 20 percent.
“Chicopee’s food insecurity rate is over 20 percent and it’s second in the state, right after Dorchester. The household income is less than half of the average of Massachusetts. People don’t have transportation, people don’t have access to fresh food, it’s like a food swamp,” said Newell.
To meet the demand, Chicopee features over 10 food pantries that provide perishable goods, produce and other items to the public. Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen remains active in growing its services to address the increased demand, including the introduction of mobile food pantry in October 2021 that travels to different areas throughout the city Monday through Thursday.
Lorraine’s new executive director, Kim Caisse said growing the pantry’s connection with local entities was a core objective when she joined in July.
“I think it’s really important to have connections in our communities. Something that I’ve wanted to develop is more outreach … individuals, businesses, schools, I just want to get Lorraine’s out there and let them know who we are and what we can do for them,” said Caisse.
Reflecting on the donation drive, Laramee said Lorraine’s expressed gratitude for Curry Nissan’s donation.
“It was so well received,” said Laramee.
Laramee stressed that Curry Nissan remains actively involved in the community. Over the past few years, the business hosted food drives and multiple radio charity fundraisers. Laramee said that serving an active role in Chicopee is a key objective.
“The people in the community are the one’s who help us do business, so we want to be able to give back anyway we can, especially during these hard times … we’re all just a big family here,” said Laramee.
Readers can learn more about Curry Nissan Chicopee at www.currynissan.com/index.cfm.