BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) – Project Paulie in Boston’s North End finds a creative way to give back to the community.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nicky Bandera cooked her mother’s sauce and baked lasagna for those in need. Bandera decided to call her venture “Project Paulie,” named after the Italian-American film “Goodfellas.” With lots of community support and lots of tomatoes, she was able to deliver over 2,000 lasagnas.
“I started mainly because I was terrified and focusing on other people kind of took my focus away,” Bandera said.
As life returned to normal, Bandera realized that cooking thousands of lasagnas wasn’t going to be sustainable. So she used her background as a fashion designer to refocus her life. With some help from local artists, she made hats with a Project Paulie tomato logo.
“We made sauce, that was the main thing, and that’s where the tomatoes came from,” Bandera said.
Staying true to her charitable roots, she donates a portion of the proceeds from each hat to different charities. Each color represents a specific charity.
“Twenty percent of each hat goes to the organization and the sorting is done entirely by color,” Bandera said.
Project Paulie’s small tomato shop is located at 42 Prince Street in Boston.
Chaiel Schaffel of WBZ NewsRadio (@CSschaffelWBZ) reported.
