SPENCER, Mass. — Eric LaFleche spends hours shopping in the grocery store, but not for himself.
“A lot of them are [like], ‘uh, you’re back again, back again?’ I’m like, ‘oh yeah, back again,’ but it’s been pretty surreal,” he said.
Just before Christmas the 49-year-old Spencer man, a father of four, decided he wanted to give back to those less fortunate. So he bought and delivered groceries for families in need with money out of his own pocket.
LaFleche’s goal was to help five families by the end of 2020 and then double that number each year going forward. But the response has been so overwhelming that he’s kept going.
“I said I wanted to spend $100 per family to get high-protein. No junk, food no chips, no candy, no soda. Staples to get people through the holiday season,” he said.
“Since Friday we’ve done seven more deliveries. So we’re up to 42 right now and 43 after this interview, so pretty awesome,” LaFleche said.
LaFleche is flooded with donations and families asking for help, like the Saintsing’s in Spencer.
“I was ecstatic. After the call I was crying. Literally it could not have come at a better time and it was a great blessing,” Wendy Saintsing said.
Saintsing said the food fed for her family of five for days. “Milk, eggs, meats, spaghetti sauce, noodles, canned food. It was a lot of food,” she said.
So many families have reached out that LaFleche launched a non-profit and started a Facebook page called ‘Buying Friends And Families Food.’ He said he’s been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support.
“I’m just going to help families that are less fortunate than myself and it’s kind of snowballed in a good way,” LaFleche said.
He said he’ll keep shopping for food and donating it to families as long as there is a need and the donations continue. LaFleche has donated to families in five states via Insta Cart, including California.