EMS Worker Helping With A Little Bit Of Time, A Little Muscle

BROOKLINE, MA — Lisa Hines knows what it’s like to be in need, but as a first responder who works the night shift on an ambulance for Boston EMS, the Brookline native also knows what it’s like to help people.

So when Hines and her son, Seth Bradley – a junior at Brookline High School –found themselves with time on their hands due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the desire to get out of the house, they decided to help their community – one carload of groceries at a time.

For the past two weeks, Hines and her son have driven around Brookline picking up bags of groceries donated by local residents, which are then delivered the Brookline Food Pantry, which has seen its requests for food more than double since the pandemic began.

After posting her idea for grocery donation pickups on the Brookline Townwide Discussion Facebook page, Hines delivered 15 bags of groceries to the food pantry the first week before delivering another 16 bags of non-perishable food to the pantry last week.

Hines and her son have ventured out eight out of the past 10 days, revisiting neighborhoods she knew growing up and that bring back fond memories and she travels around Brookline picking up donations. The mother-son trips take up and hour here and an hour there, giving Hines and Bradley time together while doing something to help out at a time when the pandemic is impacting so many people.

So as local residents have various reasons why they can’t get to the pantry to drop off a food donation, Hines has taken it upon herself and her son to do it for them.

“It’s nice – it’s a pretty down and it’s easy to get around and it’s doing something hopefully that is helpful,” Hines said Thursday. “I know there’s a lot of people who need the help.”

As an EMS worker, Hines has seen two sides of the pandemic. As a first responder, she has worked on the front lines to help provide medical care for those who need it as confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to mount in Massachusetts. But in her daily life in Brookline, Hines realizes that there are people who have been financially strapped by not being able to work or put food on the table, which makes her mission to deliver groceries to the food bank equally important.

Chanin Kennedy, operations manager for the Brookline Food Pantry, told Brookline TAB that the pantry has seen a 227 percent increase in traffic as clients – both those who have relied on the pantry in the past and those new to using the pantry – continue to visit pantry at on St. Paul Street more frequently.

The Brookline pantry relies on the Boston Food Bank to keep its shelves stocked and, according to Kennedy, makes two trips a week and fills a U-Haul truck with food that will then be delivered to Brookline residents.

But the shelter also relies on local donations, which is an effort Hines said she is happy to be part of as needs around the community continue. While her efforts have been limited to those who saw her post on the Brookline Townwide Facebook page, she is willing to take on more shifts of picking up and delivering food to the pantry if needed.

She considers it her way of giving back to her hometown in her own way.

“I understand what it means to worry about money and to not be able to fill your refrigerator or your cabinets,” Hines said. “I know growing up in Brookline, I don’t know if we were poor, but I know we got clothes from neighbors. I know my mother got $5 here, $10 there from neighbors. I know we benefited from the generosity of the people around us. It’s something I’m aware of.

“So since I can’t make a big financial donation, I can certainly donate a little bit of time. It’s really very little effort. It’s a little bit of time, a little bit of muscle and that’s it.”