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David Jaffe and Kathi Labretto.

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David Jaffe and Heidi Desrosiers and her daughter Alexis, 9.

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David Jaffe and Erin Young, 5, and her father, Danny Young of Northampton Street in Easthampton.

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Jerry Leclair of Easthampton displays his $50 bill.

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Don Lussier with David Jaffe. Lussier said he couldn't believe someone would give money away like that.

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David Jaffe and Kim Schmitt of Mount Tom Avenue in Easthampton.

EASTHAMPTON - It was 11 a.m. Monday and David Jaffe was grinning quite a bit for a guy who just parted with $1,400.

Jaffe, a tall, bespectacled man who turned 50 Monday, spent the morning at the Easthampton Community Center on Clark Street giving a $50 bill to each person who came in to pick up groceries at the center's food pantry.

"It's my 50th birthday today and I decided I wanted to celebrate it by giving 50 people $50," he told each recipient, as he handed them the money from a bank envelope.

People hugged him. One or two teared up. Most asked if he was serious. Some simply thanked him and shook his hand. Several veterans shared stories with him. One woman showed him a picture of her baby daughter on her cell phone.

Jaffe handed out 40 of the bills by noon and gave away his final 10 when the center reopened at 4 p.m. - for a total of $2,500, as beaming center volunteers looked on.

"I thought I would get more pleasure out of giving to others on my birthday than I would doing something nice for myself," said Jaffe, who lives with his cats on Terrace View.

Jaffe is a social worker who evaluates youths in the Hadley and Springfield court systems.

"I'm not a wealthy guy," Jaffe said. "I don't own a home. But I'm lucky."

Kathi Labretto of Adams Street was one of the first people to come in Monday to pick up several bags of groceries. "You've got to be kidding me," she said, as Jaffe handed her the money. "These aren't the phony ones, are they?"

"The bank assured me they're real," Jaffe said with a smile.

Returning to her car in the parking lot, Labretto said she has been out of work for more than a year. "It just seems like one thing after another is happening," she said. "Something good is going to come to him from this."

Heidi Desrosiers of John Street came in to the center to pick up food with her daughter, Alexis, 9.

She hugged Jaffe when he gave her the money and told him Alexis needs new pants, pointing to her torn jeans.

"I'm shocked," Desrosiers said. "God must be watching out for us."

Jaffe asked each recipient to keep the gift a secret to preserve the surprise for the next person waiting outside the door.

He said he wanted to soak up each person's reaction so he could remember his 50th birthday.

"It's not all selfless," Jaffe said. "I get something out of it."

Jaffe did not know much about the community center a few weeks ago. He'd only driven by.

Jaffe said he came up with his idea of giving $50 to 50 people after he learned the center had a food pantry. He said he wanted to call attention the program and to the need it serves.

The pantry program, which is supported by the United Way of Hampshire County and by local donations, has grown five-fold in the past several years, said Director Robin Bialecki.

About 500 families receive food each week at the pantry, up from 47 families just three years ago.

The center provided more than 52,000 pounds of food in November, the most recent count.

"It's the economy," Bialecki said. "We have a lot of people out of work who are trying to help themselves."

Responses varied

People showed a range of reactions Monday to Jaffe's gift.

"I think some people feel embarrassed to accept a handout," Jaffe said.

Others were visibly moved.

"You can't put a price on that," Jaffe said. "In some ways, it's kind of humbling."

Philip Olive, a Navy veteran searching for work in the medical field, said he was nearly in shock when Jaffe handed him $50.

"Things are so bad right now," said Olive, who lives at Vikings Landing on Park Street. "This man's a saint."

Olive told Jaffe that he had served as a medical corpsman with the Navy and was having trouble finding work as an anesthesiologist.

Jaffe told him that his father served in the Army, thanked him for his service and wished him luck in his job hunt.

"In my travels I don't get many thank-yous," Olive said.

James Landry of South Hadley said he is on disability and struggles to afford various medications and other expenses. "It seems like the people who don't have it are the people who give the most," Landry said.

Shirley Roberge of Laura Avenue asked Jaffe if there was someone else who needed the money more than her.

"It's a good deed," said Roberge, who knits at the center with a group of people who donate the clothing to agencies and charities.

Roberge said she might buy knitting supplies with the money. "What a wonderful surprise," she said. "I'm grateful for the help."

Matt Pilon can be reached at mpilon@gazettenet.com.