Pam and Pat Theodoros look on during the dedication ceremony.

by Laura Bullock

Pat and Pam Theodoros, proud owners of United Restaurant Equipment in Billerica, have been true champions of the Boys and Girls Club Club of Greater Lowell.

Beyond spending countless hours volunteering and supporting the club’s programs over the years, they quietly played a key role in transforming  our new kitchen from the ground up. They personally helped design the new layout and generously donated all of the appliances and supplies needed to bring it to life!

There are not enough words to show our appreciation! Thanks to their incredible support, we now have a gorgeous, fully updated, energy-efficient kitchen. Hard to believe that at one point we had eight outdated refrigerators doing the work of our new, streamlined walk-in units.

Our meals have come a long way too.

What was once mostly pasta dinners, frozen chicken patties, and peanut butter crackers has become fresh, healthy, and kid-approved meals.

As the Club grew, we began serving over 100 meals a day and this growth helped us secure funding to hire full-time kitchen staff.

Enter Scott Plath, owner of Cobblestones in Lowell.

Alongside his head chef, Scott volunteered his time for months, reimagining the kitchen layout and redesigning the menus—all while running his own restaurants. His expertise helped us utilize a tiny kitchen space making it as functional and meaningful as possible.

Through Scott, we met Chef Sally, who has now been with the Club for 12 years and has served up more than 500,000 meals and snacks to date! With the right tools and space, Sally and her team prepare nutritious meals full of fresh veggies—some even grown right in our Club garden. She brings cultural variety to the menu, making sure everyone feels at home.

A kitchen does more than serve up meals.

Thanks to our partnership with MassHire, more teens have been able to gain hands-on work experience in the kitchen—learning valuable skills and work ethic under Sally’s mentorship. Former MassHire workers Anthony and Tony are now part of our full-time staff, and this year’s Youth of the Year, Jayden Stella, also spent time working in the kitchen.

To top it all off, at the ribbon cutting event, our efforts were honored with a special visit from local leaders. State Representative Tara Hong (18th District), alongside Representatives Vanna Howard (17th), Rodney Elliott (16th), and a representative from Senator Ed Kennedy’s office, presented The Club with a Citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives, signed by Speaker Ron Mariano.

The journey from a cramped kitchen to a full-service hub of nourishment and opportunity has been nothing short of incredible—and it’s all thanks to the amazing people who believe in our mission.

Along with more than 18.5 million to date for our Club renovation and expansion, special thanks goes out to community members like the Theodoros’, and our architect Patrick Tighe, whose donations of supplies and time, are outside the scope of fundraising dollars, and without whom none of this would be possible.

Looking ahead, our expanded facility will allow us to serve over 500 meals a day—more than double our current reach! The new kitchen also supports our Club Love Food Truck, helping us deliver healthy snacks to kids all across the city.

As Jayden Stella cut the ribbon to officially open our new kitchen he exclaimed “Here’s to the next 500,000 meals!”

With a community behind us and a kitchen built with love, we’re ready to nourish more kids than ever—one meal, one moment, one smile at a time.