Tap In to Community Outreach

Every Thursday they converge, seemingly out of nowhere: a core group of volunteers who will unload two pallets of food in about 20 minutes. It is an efficient operation and this group has it down to a science.

They are some of the nearly 100 people pitching in at Tap In, an all-volunteer outreach organization that provides resources and services to residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay. Headquartered in the basement of the old Peck School in the heart of Barrington, Tap In is synonymous with meeting a need for dozens of families from Bristol, Warren, East Providence and Barrington who come through the doors for help every week.

“We did our homework. We knew what wasn’t out there and we started small, but we’re big now,’’ said Pam Faulkner, one of five founding members who started Tap In 30 years ago. The original mission in 1983 was informational — to help match people with other service agencies.

“There seemed to be so many needy people in town who needed information on where to go for things like healthcare, Meals on Wheels and hospice. Those organizations were all just starting about the same time we did,’’ she said.

So the goal was to Tap In to those services, hence the name. Someone later expanded the acronym to Touch a Person In Need. “Then a whole lot of other things came up and out, and like flowers sprouting, we could see there were many other needs,’’ Faulkner said.

First the so-called food closet, which helps stretch working families’ budgets or helps those on food stamps by allowing them to get a generous bag full of supplemental food items once a month. There are children’s clothes, household goods, beds, the occasional bike and children’s books and toys.

“The supply followed the need. It was interesting that we were asked several times why we were locating in Barrington,’’ Faulkner said. “People assumed Barrington doesn’t have needy people. Well, wrong. There are many needy people in Barrington who need transportation to medical appointments, who don’t know where to turn and who don’t have many family members.’’

The town provides the space rent-free, but Tap In has to cover the cost of utilities, computers and phones, so Faulkner says the organization appreciates monetary donations to help with the overhead.

Tap In is open 9 am to noon Monday through Friday and a different group of about 10 volunteers comes each day. The organization relies on donations of all sorts of items and many in the area think of Tap In first when they’re clearing out a house.

Ann Wood began volunteering for Tap In eight years ago and now serves as one of its co-presidents. She spends most of her time on the phone and computer to find matches for a wide variety of items. “If somebody in Bristol has a bed that they want to donate, they keep the bed there, we call the person who told us that they need a bed and we say, ‘We have a bed available for you. Just call this person,’’’ Wood said. “And they’re responsible for picking up the bed.’’

One of the original missions — and a constant the past 30 years — has been providing rides. George and Rose Marie Bolton have been drivers; she for 25 years, he for the past 17 since he retired. “A lot of people are former drivers who can no longer drive,’’ George Bolton said. “Once in a while you get a younger person who’s handicapped who needs the service, but they’re mostly older people.’’

And while Tap In buys food at a reduced rate from the Rhode Island Community Food Bank it also relies on donations. “We have people who have come in with donations, who said, ‘You helped me in a tough time and I’d like to give back,’’’ Faulkner said. “And they may come in with a small financial donation or they may come in with some furniture or children’s clothes or whatever. But they want to give back.’’

Hummel: Do you think about what would happen if you guys weren’t here?

Faulkner: I think it would leave a big hole. I think it would be hard for people who have depended upon us and looked to us for help.

Hummel: Did you ever think, in 1983, you’d be here 30 years later?

Faulkner: No, I never thought in my wildest dreams we’d be this large and serving this many people with so many volunteers. It’s very heartening.

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