Heart to Cart brings hope to North Shore residents hit hard by pandemic food insecurity

Like so many others in the Spring of 2020, Eduardo Rodriguez found himself without work and worried about how he was going to eat.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation, many laborers faced financial distress as mass layoffs led to immense food and housing insecurity. 

“Unfortunately, mine isn’t a job you can work from home. If we don’t work, we don’t get tips — there’s no money,”  said Rodriguez, a 35-year-old Chelsea resident and Cambridge restaurant worker. “I found myself struggling financially. It was really difficult to say ‘I don’t know where my next meal will come from.’”

But one day, at the height of his struggles, Rodriguez received an envelope in the mail from his friend Tom O’Keefe containing a $100 gift card to a local grocery chain. A handwritten note said, “I hope this can be helpful.”

And it was.

The gesture was part of O’Keefe’s fundraising initiative, Heart to Cart, which has put more than $60,000 worth of local gift cards in the hands of North Shore residents since April 2020. Most of the effort focuses on buying Market Basket gift cards for families in need in Revere, Everett, Lynn, East Boston, and Chelsea.

“The fear of not being able to buy food is probably one of the biggest fears out there,” said O’Keefe, founder of Stride for Stride, a nonprofit running organization that buys race bibs for immigrant, BIPOC, and low-income runners. O’Keefe is also the social media influencer behind the widely popular @BostonTweet Twitter account, which has racked up more than 276,000 followers since 2008. 

A program of Stride for Stride, Heart to Cart came about when it became apparent that several of O’Keefe’s North Shore running mates were struggling amid pandemic job losses. 

“I thought, how can I help out my teammates?” he said. Twenty-four hours later, a fundraiser was born.

With the 2021 holidays approaching, O’Keefe is pushing for a new goal of raising $30,000 worth of gift cards — $100 for 300 families before the Christmas season. 

As of Halloween, the fundraiser had collected more than $3,400 of that goal, with $1,000 worth of cards already distributed as of Oct. 29. 

Many of those in need are undocumented immigrants who work in the restaurant industry and are unable to receive government stimulus payments or collect unemployment insurance. For these individuals, the gift cards make a world of difference — not just in their food security, but for their morale. 

“When the pandemic hit, all you heard was bad news,” said Rodriguez. “People dying. People struggling to buy groceries. People going homeless. People suffering… But when you get these cards, there’s hope. It’s not what you buy, it’s what you get. You get happiness, relief. It gives you faith in humanity that someone is doing something good.”

O’Keefe personally distributes the gift cards and also works with local organizations La Colaborativa and East Boston Neighborhood Health Center to ensure the cards go directly to the families and individuals in most need.

Amid the restaurant closings, Rodriguez checked in with his coworkers: “And all I heard is struggles, and more struggles. Food insecurity is very real, and especially with restaurant workers, especially dishwashers,” Rodriguez said. “They’re some of the hardest workers, and they get paid the least.” 

Knowing that O’Keefe was collecting gift cards, Rodriguez gave him a list of 15 people. Soon after, Rodriguez’s coworkers were shopping for food, and the gratitude was palpable. 

“When I saw these people again, they said ‘Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me and my family.’ It almost broke my heart that $100 could make such a difference for them,” said Rodriguez. 

In January 2021, O’Keefe and his wife Bridget handed out $7,000 worth of cards (“It took about six minutes,” he said), and earlier, on Thanksgiving of 2020, they handed out $3,000 worth to people outside a local food bank.

“You’re helping a good amount of people but at the same time, there are hundreds of people needing help, still in line,” said O’Keefe. “It was shocking to me how massive the need was and still is.”

Beyond helping feed those in need, O’Keefe hopes the fundraiser will inspire others to take similar action, even on the smallest scale.

“Just copy and paste, please,” said O’Keefe of Heart to Cart. “It’s such an easy thing to do. Most of us can probably raise $500 on Facebook — that’s five cards. We probably all know people in our community who are struggling.”

About Heart to Cart

• Heart to Cart is a program of Stride for Stride
• It’s raised $60,000 since April 2020
• A new goal aims to raise $30,000 by Christmas 2021
• Funds go to families and individuals via O’Keefe, La Colaborativa, and East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
• Anyone can request a card via HeartToCart.org
• Donations are tax-deductible