Bucky’s 10-year-old grandson helps keep legacy alive at food pantry

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

WORCESTER – Kelton Torrey is a dedicated supporter of the Bucky Sheehan Food Pantry at St. Bernard Church of Our Lady of Providence Parish where he has stocked shelves and helped accept deliveries for the pantry. Recently, he has also sought donations of food while starring in videos posted on Facebook.

Yes, he’s committed to the cause and, believe it or not, he is only 10 years old.

Kelton is the grandson of the late Bucky Sheehan, who passed away four-and-half years ago at age 64. Mr. Sheehan was devoted to the food pantry, which was named in his memory after he passed away.

Kelton has volunteered off and on for the food pantry since the death of his grandfather, whom he called, “Papa.”

“It makes me think about him a lot,” Kelton said, “and I feel really happy that I’m helping and I know that Papa is feeling really happy that I’m helping.”

“I just love it,” said Kelton’s mother and Bucky’s daughter, Cristin Torrey, “simply because he reminds me so much of him – just his personality and always wanting to help in any way he can. His outgoing personality, a lot of it reminds me of my dad.”

Kelton has fond memories of Papa singing to him and the two of them making chocolate milk together.  

Kelton is the only child of Cristin and Matthew Torrey. They live only three streets away from St. Bernard Church and they all do what they can to help the food pantry.

Kelton is a fifth grader at Worcester Dual Language Magnet School. He speaks Spanish better than the other volunteers at the food pantry so he sometimes serves as a translator for the Spanish-speaking clients.

The food pantry is open the second and fourth Mondays each month from 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. About 30 families visit the food pantry to receive free non-perishable food and clothing each day that the pantry is open. That number increases to about 40 families around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In November, Kelton’s mother helped him create a few videos. It was his idea to appear as a news reporter in special news reports that urge viewers to donate to the food pantry. His mother also helped him write the script which he reads while holding a microphone.

“He honestly loves it,” Mrs. Torrey said. “He’s proud and anything that has to do with my dad that allows him to remember him means a lot to him.”

During one of the videos, he walked through the food pantry to show that the bins and shelves need more food. Then he interviewed Sheila Ponte, who has run the food pantry with Christine Consol- magno for 15 years.

In each video, he urged viewers to click on the link on the screen to donate the item of the day on the pantry’s Amazon wish list.

“It makes me feel happy and I love doing them,” he said.

“I got to hold a microphone, which was really fun.”

He also enjoys coming up with such catchy sign-off phrases as, “Get in the holiday mood and donate some food.”

After Kelton asked for more canned beans, the pantry received 117 cans that week.

“I feel really happy and really good that my videos are helping that much,” Kelton said.

Father Jonathan Slavinskas, Our Lady of Providence pastor, texted Mrs. Consolmagno a photo that week of several boxes of donations on the front porch of the rectory.

“The response has been awesome,” Mrs. Consolmagno said.

Ann-Marie Sheehan, Bucky’s wife and Kelton’s grandmother, is one of the pantry’s many dedicated volunteers. Another is Lorrie Carlson who has helped out since Mrs. Consolmagno and Ms. Ponte became co-coordinators in 2009. Plenty of youths volunteer, but Mrs. Consolmagno said that Kelton is the youngest.

The videos have a professional look.

“They’re creative and he’s very talented,” Mrs. Consolmagno said. “I told Ann-Marie when I saw them, ‘Boy, this kid is going places.’ He’s beyond his years.”

Kelton learned to enjoy being the center of attention by appearing in musicals for Calliope Productions, a community theater company in Boylston. Last summer, he played the role of King Julien in Madagascar. He also dances and last summer he was also named “Little Mr. Dance,” for his tap-dancing solo in a national dance competition in Hyannis.

“He’s a very outgoing kid,” Mrs. Consolmagno said. “You can tell he likes to be social. He also just loves to be in the spotlight. That’s his comfort zone. For most people, it’s not. For Kelton, it is. You don’t see that too often in kids his age. They’re usually shy.”

“I’m very proud of him,” his grandmother said. “He took it upon himself with his mother and his father’s guidance to preserve Papa’s memory. The food pantry was a passion of Bucky’s.”

Mr. Sheehan, a popular disc jockey, organized Lincoln Street neighborhood reunions on a couple of Thanksgiving weekends and urged everyone to bring groceries for the food pantry.

Nearly 300 people did each year and the reunions were the pantry’s largest fundraisers.

For his packed retirement party, Mr. Sheehan asked everyone to bring bags of food for the pantry instead of gifts.

Before two Thanksgivings, he helped hang plastic bags on doors in the St. Bernard’s neighborhood and he returned a few days later to pick up the bags which were filled with groceries for the food pantry. The following year, he posted a message on Facebook asking for food for Thanksgiving and he collected far more than the previous years.

“That’s what Bucky did,” Mrs. Consolmagno said. “As soon as we said, ‘Buck, we need mac and cheese,’ he was all over social media and then we’d have 100 cases of mac and cheese. We miss that.”

Kelton plans to post several more videos asking for donations leading up to Christmas.
Bucky’s Food Pantry does not receive food from the Worcester County Food Bank, but occasionally receives surplus food from the St. John’s Food for the Poor Program. The pantry relies upon donations from individuals and food drives.

The food pantry doesn’t have the funding to service people beyond the parish community. Those who live in the 01605 zip code can just show up for food during business hours.
The pantry has also served people in need of food who have knocked on the rectory door. People in need have reached out to Mrs. Consolmagno on Facebook or have noticed her enter the pantry and asked for food.

“I never say no,” she said. “It’s all good. I’m blessed to not be in that situation and blessed to do God’s work.”