Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
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 would make her mother’s sauce and bake lasagna for people in need. Bandera decided to call her endeavor 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 cooking for people mainly because I was absolutely terrified and focusing on other people kind of took the focus off me,” said Bandera.
As life started to return to a new normal, Bandera realized cooking thousands of lasagnas would not be sustainable, so she used her background in fashion design to pivot. With some help from local artists, she made hats with a Project Paulie tomato logo.
“We were making sauce, which was the main thing, and that’s kind of where the tomato came from,” said Bandera.
Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
Staying true to her charitable roots, she donates a portion of the sales from each hat to various charities. Each color corresponds to a specific charity.
“20 percent of each one of the hats goes to the organization and it’s all done by color,” said Bandera.
Project Paulie’s Little Tomato Shop is located at 42 Prince St. in Boston.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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