Hunger is generally viewed as a problem in other parts of the world, yet as The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts shows, it’s also a problem at home. The Food Bank serves over 100,000 people, and 27% of these people are children. As the economy worsens, dependence on services like the Food Bank is increasing as families are being faced with tough decisions on how to budget and cut back on their expenses.
The Food Bank was founded in 1982 as a non-profit organization serving Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties. They are now the leading provider of food for low-income families and individuals in western Massachusetts.
The Food Bank acts as a warehouse where donations from food companies are delivered. The 60-acre Food Bank Farm in Hadley also donates 200,000 pounds of produce each year for the Food Bank. The nutritious food is then distributed to 400 shelters, pantries, soup kitchens, and meal sites in the area. The Food Bank also has several other programs, like Brown Bag Food for Elders, which delivers food to more than 5,000 low-income elderly people in 51 communities.
In the current economic crisis families in the area may depend on the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC), to get things like formula and healthful foods for their children. But the monthly allotment of formula is not enough, and a can that lasts 7 days can cost $20. To help with this the Food Bank has opened up an Infant Formula Pantry located in the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Springfield. The number of participants using the pantry continues to increase. The Food Bank also educates women about breastfeeding when they come to the pantry, which is a much less expensive alternative to formula.
Using the proverb “give someone a fish and you feed him for a day; teach someone how fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” Executive Director of the Food Bank Andrew Morehouse explains in an article in their “Word of Mouth” newsletter how the food bank strives to teach people “how to fish” as well. The Food Bank teaches people how to eat nutritious foods while on a budget, and how to cook in bulk with basic recipes. This program currently takes place in Springfield and in the north Berkshires, but hopefully will spread to all four counties.
UMass Student April Corso interns in the marketing department of the Food Bank. She is trying to get RSO status for her group “Five College Slow Food,” a group of students who are concerned with combating hunger in western Massachusetts. If the group gets RSO approval they will have their first meeting in late April or early May, and April urges anyone interested to e-mail her at: amcorso@student.umass.edu
April is also helping out with project hope. This is a project that the Food Bank puts on along with MASSPIRG. Students find sponsors to donate food or money, and then they must build a sculpture that is at least 75% food products with the donations. On April 22nd in the Campus Center concourse people can vote for their favorite by dropping off food to the sculpture they like best. All of the food and money earned goes to the Food Bank, and there will be prizes for the winning students. For more information on this you can e-mail createhope09@gmail.com
The Food Bank is also having a fundraiser dinner called the May-gration Celebration on May 7th at the Blue Heron restaurant in Sunderland. Award winning chefs will prepare meals, and all of the money made will go to the Food Bank. Donations to get in start at $100/person. If interested you can RSVP to The Food Bank (413-247-9738 x 109) by Monday, April 27th.
Even just 15% of UMass students can make a big difference in the quest to end hunger in this part of the state. One pamphlet from the food bank has the following statistics:
If approximately 2871 students…
- Donate a load of laundry, we would have $7,177.50, and because every dollar is equal to approximately $9 worth of food, so we would have $64,597.50 worth of food
- Wrote two letters to Representatives, we’d have 5,472 letters
- Made five phone calls spreading the word abut hunger, we would have 14,355 calls
- Did a four hour shift at a food pantry, we would have 11,484 hours of volunteers assisting at the Food Bank
In these tough economic times, it’s important that people take the time to help those who are in need, and the numbers are on the rise. All it takes is giving up four hours of your time, or a couple cans of food.
