Black River Produce donates property to BR Good Neighbors

From left, Kevin Kuntz, vice president of Black River Good Neighbor Services; Mark Curran and Stephen Birge, owners of Black River Produce; Peter LaBelle, president of BRGNS; Robert Evens, BRGNS treasurer; and Charles Hastings, director of BRGNS. Birge passes the deed to donated land to LaBelle.

LUDLOW

The board of directors of Black River Good Neighbor Services in Ludlow has announced the receipt of a major gift from Black River Produce of North Springfield.

The owners of BRP, Mark Curran and Steve Birge, have given the Ludlow-based food shelf the land on which BRP first ran their wholesale business in the late 1970s.

That property, accessed at 51 Pleasant St. in Ludlow, consists of 2.25 acres acres.

Peter LaBelle, president of BRGN Services, said the property has been an empty wooded lot since the barn burned down in the mid-1990s. Immediate plans are to build a storage building to replace storage that was lost during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

Black River Good Neighbor Services operates a food shelf at 37B Main Street in Ludlow to serve the towns of Ludlow, Cavendish, Mount Holly and Plymouth. It has partnered with Black River Produce for many years to help feed the hungry and this latest gesture of generosity is most appreciated.

“This is quite overwhelming,” said LaBelle. “We are truly grateful for the kindness that Mark and Steve have shown to the people of Ludlow, and especially to our clients.”

Black River Produce began the wholesale distribution of produce from an old barn in the lot off Pleasant Street in the late 1970s. It moved operations to Proctorsville in 1989 when it outgrew the barn, then moved to North Springfield in 2005 “We believe in giving back to the community that has been so good to us,” said BRP’s Birge.

“Black River Produce is all about food and we hate the thought that there are people who cannot afford to eat. We just wanted to help Good Neighbors in some way.”

For additional information about Black River Good Neighbors call 802-228-3663. For more information on Black River Produce, see www.blackriverproduce.com.