Making
a Difference: The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
The
first thing we noticed when we visited the Food Bank
office last week is how well organized and quiet it is.
No water cooler talk here. These are people with a
mission — to provide food to people in need in western
Massachusetts. Affiliated with America's Second Harvest,
a national network of food banks, the Food Bank of
Western MA serves more than 400 member programs
including soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless
shelters, childcare centers, youth and elder programs,
residential programs for the developmentally challenged,
and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs throughout
the four western Massachusetts counties. In 1999, these
good folks distributed 4.7 million pounds of food,
reaching 106,000 people in need (half of which are
children!).
How
do they do it? Volume! Well, actually, that's true in a
way. The Food Bank rescues food from the food industry
that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to
agencies that directly serve those in need. It comes
from organizations like Stop & Shop (one quarter of
all food donations received — a fact that we're
surprised Stop & Stop doesn't better promote) and
Kraft, and agencies like the USDA. It ranges from
staples like tuna fish and cereal to frozen chimichangas
and trail mix (for some reason their shelves are
overflowing with USDA-provided trail mix right now).
Stroll
the well-stocked aisles of their Hatfield warehouse and
you'll begin to understand the enormity of the problem
of hunger in this country. Yes, people seek emergency
food to get them through a short-term crisis (layoff,
critical illness, loss of home due to fire, etc.). But
what is more surprising (and sad) is that many people
still come to the Food Bank's member agencies because
they are hungry, with no way to buy food.
And an increasing number are seeking "emergency
food" to fill in the gaps their paychecks aren't
covering. With 25% of U.S. workers making $8.00 an hour
or less, this kind of juggling act is routine to many
families. They are living, from week to week, just on
the edge of emergency.
With
a staff of 12 full-time and 14-part time employees as
well as an army of volunteers, apprentices and seasonal
farm hands, the Food Bank runs five main programs to
fight hunger and food waste in our area: Agency
Services offers food and technical assistance
including nutrition education, the Full Plate Special (a
program to teach low-income kids about healthy eating)
and Kids Café, a new program that will provide hot
meals to Holyoke youth at a number of afterschool
sites). Brown Bag is a direct food assistance
program providing a 10-15 pound bag of supplemental
groceries to 3,000 low-income seniors each month. The
Food Bank Farm is a 60-acre organic farm financially
supported by over 525 community shareholders who pay a
fee that covers the operating costs of the farm in
return for a weekly supply of produce. (The Food Bank
brings the rest of the produce — about 50% — to
people in need). The Fresh Food Project is a
volunteer-driven program which rescues prepared and
perishable food from a variety of sources — including
bakeries, restaurants, grocery stores and institutional
dining services — and delivers it directly to local
assistance programs. And finally, Youth Against
Hunger (YAH!) brings a curriculum on hunger
awareness and community service to area schools. It's an
impressive roster of services, and the Food Bank folks
are definitely up to the task of keeping everything
running smoothly and efficiently.
OK,
so when we left the Food Bank, we were impressed. We
were very impressed. And we were filled with a sense of
purpose — to help further the Food Bank's good works.
If after reading this you, too, want to help, call the
Food Bank at 413-247-9738 or visit their web site at www.foodbankwma.org.
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