“No questions. No judgment. Just support,” reads a flyer taped to a rack of challah and sandwich loaves outside Blacker’s Bakeshop in Newton Centre. Next to it is a table whose spread includes apricot babka, orange cranberry loaves, pita and frozen soup.

The community table at Blacker’s Bakeshop, located at 543 Commonwealth Ave., offers fresh bread and other baked goods that didn’t sell that day for anyone to take, free of charge and no questions asked, on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The table started Nov. 2 after the federal government shutdown caused a lapse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative, which supports 42 million Americans and 1 million in Massachusetts. 

“As soon as we heard that the current administration was canceling SNAP benefits and other food assistance programs for people in need, it really just triggered basically everything we stand for,” said Rebecca Blacker, manager of Blacker’s Bakeshop, a family-owned bakery established in 2008.

Amid a weeks-long legal battle over SNAP funding, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that Massachusetts has restored benefits to recipients. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is appealing to the Supreme Court to keep SNAP funding frozen, as the federal government shutdown continues. The shutdown is over, though, after the Senate voted Monday night to reopen the government and the House passed that deal on Wednesday night.

Blacker’s Bakeshop, which is nut-free, dairy-free and kosher pareve, sets up the table outside its storefront after close, on Sundays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

With food banks likely to see an increase in need this month, Blacker said the bakeshop aims to be another location for food assistance.

“We’re not just a place to purchase baked goods. We really know our customers, and we have known them for a very long time,” Blacker said. “You mess with our customers, you mess with us, and it just felt like a natural thing to be able to do for them.”

To bolster the spread of leftover goods from that day’s bake, anyone can also donate $5 to “Sponsor a Challah,” which adds a fresh loaf of challah to an upcoming table.

“People will just hand us, you know, $100 like, ‘However many challahs this will do, go for it,’” Blacker said.

Blacker estimated dozens of people stopped by the table to take goods in its first two sessions Nov. 2 and 5. Whatever is left on the community table is donated to local food banks or Jewish Family Services, she said.

When the Blackers asked if Inna’s Kitchen, the bakeshop’s next-door neighbor, wanted to participate in the community table, owner Alex Khitrik’s answer was “absolutely.”

Inna’s Kitchen donates some of its frozen soups, gluten-free bread and prepared foods — food that’s still good but wasn’t sold that day — to the community table, in addition to Blacker’s Bakeshop’s baked goods.

“Every dollar makes a difference when you’re just trying to make ends meet,” Khitrik said.

Inna’s Kitchen, which opened in 2011, is entirely kosher pareve and gluten-, dairy- and nut-free. Khitrik said he takes pride in providing food that people with allergies and dietary restrictions can enjoy.

“These types of foods also tend to be more expensive, whether it’s gluten free, whether it’s kosher, vegan, so it feels even more important to sort of help people who have those requirements,” he said.

Blacker’s Bakeshop in Newton Centre specializes in kosher, vegan baked goods. Photo by Siena Grifin

Inna’s Kitchen frequently donates items to the Newton Community Freedge on Watertown Street, Khitrik said. In November, the store will donate 18% of its gift card sales to Newton Food Pantry. Lots of local stores donate 15%, he added, but in Judaism 18 represents good luck, and it’s common to donate or give gifts in multiples of 18.

Laura Bradford, who has worked at Blacker’s Bakeshop for 14 years, said the community table initiative is “such a beautiful thing.”

“It makes me so proud to be here and do this,” said Bradford, who works at the bakeshop in addition to teaching at a school in Brookline. “The community has been so generous.”

Bradford said some people assume SNAP cuts don’t impact people in Newton, where the median household income is nearly double the state median.

“You think, because it’s Newton, that there aren’t going to be people who are hungry, but there’s people hungry all over,” she said.

Blacker said the response from the community has been “so positive and so supportive.”

“I think it feels overwhelming for a lot of people to know that they want to do something and [are] not really sure what to do,” she said. “To be able to help an organization execute a program like this, they really appreciate it as well.”

Regardless of what happens with SNAP in the future, Blacker said the bakeshop plans to continue running the table. She also said other local restaurants have reached out about contributing food to the Community Table.

“It’s a simple thing that we can offer,” she said. “We’re happy to keep doing it for as long as people need.”

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This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.