Seat at the Table

Sidman part of response to massive increase in demand for meals during pandemic

BY CHRISTINE MCCARRISTON

As his 40th birthday approached six years ago, Jason Sidman of Marblehead reflected and knew he wanted to give back to his community. He could never guess that following through on that goal would lead to him becoming president of My Brother’s Table in Lynn during a pandemic.

Nor could he imagine that prevented the town from modernizing certain operations to meet 21st-century governing needs.”

MBT would provide guests over three million meals since the start of the pandemic, essentially matching the number of meals the soup kitchen had given out in its first 37 years.

Sidman started his service with MBT as a member of its fundraising committee.

“One thing I really wanted to do was broaden the sense of community,” he said.

The state mandate

State law creates a firewall between the Select Board and cash-management functions. “[State legislators] have specifically mandated that this role be independent of select