BLACKSTONE, Mass. – When Town Administrator Chad Lovett learned that more than 600 Blackstone households could lose access to food assistance starting Nov. 1, he said he knew the town needed to act fast.

Lovett said he was listening to WBZ Radio early last week when he heard other communities were launching food drives in response to the federal government shutdown. He looked up the numbers for Blackstone and said he was surprised by what he found.

“It was over 600 households with more than 1,000 individuals,” he told The Valley Breeze . “To think of anybody in the town not having access to food is a scary thought.”

Within 24 hours, Lovett said, the town coordinated with the Blackstone-Millville Food Pantry to launch a new food drive, placing collection bins at Town Hall and the Publi

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