MVFB Executive Director Amy Pessia at the Food Bank’s Lowell facility. Photo by Kate Harper.
From unassuming beginnings in 1993, operating out of borrowed mill space with a donated truck and used freezer, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank has grown to become a vital supplier to several community food pantries and meal programs throughout the Merrimack Valley, North Shore and southern New Hampshire. In 2007 the MVFB distributed over 2 million pounds of food – the equivalent of 1.7 million meals – demonstrating not only the incredible support that the Food Bank receives, but the ever-increasing needs of the people they serve.
The MVFB receives donations of food from a variety of sources, including government agencies like the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, as well as from local supermarkets, food manufacturers and charitable organizations. The agency also accepts monetary donations, which it uses to purchase food at discounted wholesale prices, making their dollar stretch much further than the average person’s would at the neighborhood grocery store.
Though it is the smallest of Massachusetts’ four food banks, the MVFB’s Lowell building appears, to the uninitiated observer, to be bursting at the seams, leaving casual visitors to wonder how so much food could ever be consumed. Shoulder-high pallets of canned tomatoes, preserved milk, rice and pasta fill the food bank’s warehouse space. Their refrigerator, stocked with nutritious perishables like cheese and yogurt, stretches a full two stories tall, their well-stocked freezer the size of a two-car garage. And every last bit of food gets used.
The ways in which the MVFB gets its food to the people who need it are many. Amy Pessia, Merrimack Valley Food Bank’s Executive Director, explains, “Contrary to popular belief, food banks do not supply food directly to the general public. That is done by food pantries at the local level. Two days each week, volunteers from our member pantries come in to ‘shop’ and get what they need to fill their shelves. We are like a supermarket for them. We even take wish lists from pantries. We do whatever we can to help them best serve people’s nutritional needs.”
In addition to supplying food pantries, the MVFB supports a number of meal programs. They supply soup kitchens, group homes and homeless shelters with the basic ingredients needed to prepare healthy meals for their clients. Their Summer Lunch Program provides daily lunches to hungry children in July and August when school lunches are not available, and their Mobile Pantry delivers groceries to over 250 disabled and elderly people who are unable to get to a local food pantry themselves.
Adding to its repertoire, the MVFB also operates a food rescue program in conjunction with Hannaford Supermarkets, preventing foods that are still wholesome but unable to be sold from being discarded. The MVFB picks up perishable and prepared items from the Lowell and Chelmsford stores three days each week, delivering them directly to pantries and soup kitchens for immediate consumption.
Along with good nutrition, the MVFB and its member pantries also try to provide other useful services. Lisa Couturier, MVFB’s Director of Business Development, says that often people receiving food assistance do not know what to do with the items they’re getting. “Sometimes there is a lack of basic skills. If you don’t know how to cook, you’re not going to know what to do with a sack of dried beans. A few of our pantries are working to provide people with recipes they can use to make meals out of the items they’re receiving. It’s really great because these are skills that stay with people.”
With the struggling economy and rising unemployment, the demand for food assistance is growing rapidly. Jimmy Good, the President of MVFB’s Board of Directors, says that many families in need, especially the working poor, will take care of all of their other expenses before they buy food. “People will do their best to pay all of their bills: rent, insurance, telephone. They buy food with whatever’s left over, and sometimes that’s not much. Getting nutritious food through us may help prevent people from living off of low-quality, unhealthy foods that can cause serious health problems in the long run.”
To help meet demand, the MVFB holds two yearly fundraisers: the Grape Expectations wine tasting event in April, sponsored by the Tewksbury Country Club, and its annual golf tournament. They also benefit greatly from fundraising events held by private organizations, one of the more recent being the Mayor’s Ball, held last October at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
Though they can always use monetary donations, the MVFB also needs other forms of help. Volunteers are needed to organize the piles of donated food in their warehouse and to package groceries for the Mobile Pantry program. Volunteers can also arrange food drives and fundraisers at their churches, schools and workplaces. And of course, food donations are always welcome. The MVFB’s need for food, volunteer help and funding tends to increase during the spring and summer months. While people are generous around the winter holidays, charitable giving tends to be forgotten during the warmer weather.
For more information on volunteering, donations or details on the July golf tournament fundraiser, visit the Merrimack Valley Food Bank’s Web site at www.mvfb.org or call their office at (978) 454-7272.
Community Spotlight – Merrimack Valley Food Bank
MVFB Executive Director Amy Pessia at the Food Bank’s Lowell facility. Photo by Kate Harper.
From unassuming beginnings in 1993, operating out of borrowed mill space with a donated truck and used freezer, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank has grown to become a vital supplier to several community food pantries and meal programs throughout the Merrimack Valley, North Shore and southern New Hampshire. In 2007 the MVFB distributed over 2 million pounds of food – the equivalent of 1.7 million meals – demonstrating not only the incredible support that the Food Bank receives, but the ever-increasing needs of the people they serve.
The MVFB receives donations of food from a variety of sources, including government agencies like the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, as well as from local supermarkets, food manufacturers and charitable organizations. The agency also accepts monetary donations, which it uses to purchase food at discounted wholesale prices, making their dollar stretch much further than the average person’s would at the neighborhood grocery store.
Though it is the smallest of Massachusetts’ four food banks, the MVFB’s Lowell building appears, to the uninitiated observer, to be bursting at the seams, leaving casual visitors to wonder how so much food could ever be consumed. Shoulder-high pallets of canned tomatoes, preserved milk, rice and pasta fill the food bank’s warehouse space. Their refrigerator, stocked with nutritious perishables like cheese and yogurt, stretches a full two stories tall, their well-stocked freezer the size of a two-car garage. And every last bit of food gets used.
The ways in which the MVFB gets its food to the people who need it are many. Amy Pessia, Merrimack Valley Food Bank’s Executive Director, explains, “Contrary to popular belief, food banks do not supply food directly to the general public. That is done by food pantries at the local level. Two days each week, volunteers from our member pantries come in to ‘shop’ and get what they need to fill their shelves. We are like a supermarket for them. We even take wish lists from pantries. We do whatever we can to help them best serve people’s nutritional needs.”
In addition to supplying food pantries, the MVFB supports a number of meal programs. They supply soup kitchens, group homes and homeless shelters with the basic ingredients needed to prepare healthy meals for their clients. Their Summer Lunch Program provides daily lunches to hungry children in July and August when school lunches are not available, and their Mobile Pantry delivers groceries to over 250 disabled and elderly people who are unable to get to a local food pantry themselves.
Adding to its repertoire, the MVFB also operates a food rescue program in conjunction with Hannaford Supermarkets, preventing foods that are still wholesome but unable to be sold from being discarded. The MVFB picks up perishable and prepared items from the Lowell and Chelmsford stores three days each week, delivering them directly to pantries and soup kitchens for immediate consumption.
Along with good nutrition, the MVFB and its member pantries also try to provide other useful services. Lisa Couturier, MVFB’s Director of Business Development, says that often people receiving food assistance do not know what to do with the items they’re getting. “Sometimes there is a lack of basic skills. If you don’t know how to cook, you’re not going to know what to do with a sack of dried beans. A few of our pantries are working to provide people with recipes they can use to make meals out of the items they’re receiving. It’s really great because these are skills that stay with people.”
With the struggling economy and rising unemployment, the demand for food assistance is growing rapidly. Jimmy Good, the President of MVFB’s Board of Directors, says that many families in need, especially the working poor, will take care of all of their other expenses before they buy food. “People will do their best to pay all of their bills: rent, insurance, telephone. They buy food with whatever’s left over, and sometimes that’s not much. Getting nutritious food through us may help prevent people from living off of low-quality, unhealthy foods that can cause serious health problems in the long run.”
To help meet demand, the MVFB holds two yearly fundraisers: the Grape Expectations wine tasting event in April, sponsored by the Tewksbury Country Club, and its annual golf tournament. They also benefit greatly from fundraising events held by private organizations, one of the more recent being the Mayor’s Ball, held last October at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
Though they can always use monetary donations, the MVFB also needs other forms of help. Volunteers are needed to organize the piles of donated food in their warehouse and to package groceries for the Mobile Pantry program. Volunteers can also arrange food drives and fundraisers at their churches, schools and workplaces. And of course, food donations are always welcome. The MVFB’s need for food, volunteer help and funding tends to increase during the spring and summer months. While people are generous around the winter holidays, charitable giving tends to be forgotten during the warmer weather.
For more information on volunteering, donations or details on the July golf tournament fundraiser, visit the Merrimack Valley Food Bank’s Web site at www.mvfb.org or call their office at (978) 454-7272.