NAHANT — The Veterans Mobile Food Market is holding its first event of the year on Wednesday.
The event, which will be from 9 to 10:30 a.m at Town Hall, will distribute fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods to veterans in need. The Food Market was set to have the event on Jan. 5, but was rescheduled to Wednesday due to the holiday season. This event is not open to the public and all first-time participants will need to verify veteran status.
“This is designed for veterans, widows of veterans and their families,” said Jon Lazar, the town’s veterans agent. “We get proteins, fruits and vegetables and we do this once a month.”
The communities of Nahant, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop hold these events on the first Wednesday of every month. The food is provided by donations from the Greater Boston Food Bank.
Lazar said he and other volunteers drive to collect the food at 7 a.m., and others help with packaging or distribution.
“We get about 1,000 pounds of food on average,” said Lazar. “You have people in teams packaging the food and delivering the food to the communities.”
Lazar said around 14 volunteers are helping this year, along with the Department of Public Works (DPW), which will help to deliver food. Along with the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Food Market has partnerships with the American Legion Auxiliary and the Nahant Council on Aging.
Lazar, who is a veteran himself, said he has been participating in the food market since it began in 2016. At first, there were around 22 recipients at events each month. That number increased to 45 recipients on average in the following year.
Lazar said the food market saw up to 60 people a month in 2020, which was the busiest year for him and the market.
“When the pandemic was at its highest, we had around 60 people show up each month,” said Lazar. “It shifted back to 40 to 45, but with these new variants I think it could go up again soon.”
Lazar said one of the best things about the food market is that it is a mobile operation.
“It keeps moving, and we keep moving,” he said. “We can be accessible and bring food to those in need.”
In 2020 and 2021, the food market moved away from its original location at Town Hall. Wednesday’s market will be the food market’s grand return to its initial home.