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The Greater Boston Food Bank Awards $920,000
in Community Investment Grants to 45 Hunger Relief Organizations in Eastern Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 

The Greater Boston Food Bank Awards $920,000 in Community Investment Grants to 45 Hunger Relief Organizations in Eastern Massachusetts 

Grants support food pantries’ services, capacity, and workforce, strengthening the state’s food system amidst an alarming need for assistance 

Boston, MA (June 18, 2024) – The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) announced it has awarded $920,000 in Community Investment Grants to 45 hunger relief organizations across Eastern Massachusetts. The funds empower GBFB’s partners to expand their services, increase capacity, and deliver more nutritious food to those in need. 

As the hunger crisis persists, with 1 in 3 Massachusetts residents (1.9 million adults) facing food insecurity, the application-based grants seek to strengthen the state’s charitable food distribution system and empower hunger-relief organizations to better serve those facing hunger in their communities. Partner agencies will use the funds for projects such as purchasing new refrigerators and storage, expanding food transportation services, adding staff to support operations, workforce upskilling and infrastructure improvements. 

“The widespread food insecurity that was once seen as a pandemic-era emergency has solidified itself as a devastating constant for so many of our neighbors,” said Catherine D’Amato, president & CEO at GBFB. “This sustained level of need demands responsive and structural solutions, starting with strategic investment in our food system partners. With these grants, we hope to ensure that the community-based organizations working tirelessly to relieve hunger have the resources and infrastructure needed to make a lasting impact in their neighborhoods.” 

The grants arrive in a particularly challenging hunger landscape, exacerbated by unsustainable grocery prices, rising housing costs, inflation, and cuts to key nutrition benefits. The latest installment of GBFB and Mass General Brigham’s statewide study on hunger, Food Equity and Access in Massachusetts: Voices and Solutions from Lived Experience, confirms that hunger has increased and identity-based inequities in food insecurity are growing. As disparities in food access disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic communities, LGBTQ+ families, certain counties, and households with children, the grants build on GBFB’s approach to elevating solutions from those with lived experience with hunger, enabling partners to respond to the unique food-related needs of their communities. 

The grant program originated in 2013 as the Capacity Expansion Grant program and has since provided nearly $7 million in financial assistance to GBFB partner agencies that serve all 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. 

2024 Community Investment Grant awardees: 

  • Acord Food Pantry, South Hamilton 
  • Allston-Brighton Food Pantry and Meals Program, Boston 
  • Among Friends, Newburyport 
  • Angels Anonymous Inc., Fall River 
  • Attleboro Area Council of Churches, Attleboro 
  • Bedford Community Table Pantry, Bedford 
  • Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center, Inc., Boston 
  • Centre Street Food Pantry, Boston 
  • Charity Guild Food Pantry, Brockton 
  • Citizens Inn/Haven from Hunger Pantry and Meals, Peabody 
  • Community Workshops Inc. Mobile Market, Boston 
  • Duxbury Lion’s Share Food Pantry, Duxbury 
  • Dwelling House of Hope, Lowell 
  • East End House Pantry, Boston 
  • Food for Free, Cambridge 
  • Franklin Food Pantry, Franklin 
  • Freedom Hill Community Church Pantry, Malden 
  • Hockomock Area YMCA, North Attleboro 
  • Holbrook Ecumenical Food Pantry, Holbrook 
  • Island Food Pantry, Martha’s Vineyard 
  • La Colaborativa, Chelsea 
  • My Brother’s Table, Lynn 
  • Mystic Community Market, Medford 
  • Neighbors In Need, Lynn 
  • Neponset Health Center Food Pantry, Boston 
  • New Healthy Mass, Newton 
  • Open Table Food Pantry, Maynard 
  • Our Daily Bread, Mansfield 
  • P.A.C.E. Community Food Center, New Bedford 
  • Pentecostal Assembly, New Bedford 
  • Plymouth Coalition for the Homeless, Inc., Plymouth 
  • Rosie’s Place/Pantry, Boston 
  • Sacred Heart Food Pantry, Middleborough 
  • Salem Pantry, Salem 
  • Salvation Army/Haverhill Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen, Haverhill 
  • Salvation Army/Plymouth Pantry, Plymouth 
  • Somerville Hispanic Association for Community Development, Somerville 
  • Somerville Homeless Coalition/Project SOUP, Somerville 
  • St. Lawrence Parish Food Pantry, New Bedford 
  • The Family Pantry of Cape Cod Corp., Harwich 
  • United Way of Tri-County/Pearl Street Cupboard and Café, Framingham 
  • Wakefield Food Pantry, Wakefield 
  • Walpole Community Food Pantry, Walpole 
  • Wellspring Multi-Service Pantry, Hull 
  • Weymouth Food Pantry, Weymouth 

 

If interested in more information about specific grants or grantees, please reach out to GBFB at press@gbfb.org.  

 

About The Greater Boston Food Bank:  

The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and one of the largest food banks in the country. For nearly half a century, GBFB has fueled Eastern Massachusetts’ hunger-relief system, putting nearly 90 million healthy meals on tables across the region each year. Over 600 community-based pantries and other local partners in 190 cities and towns depend on GBFB to provide access to healthy food for 600,000 people every month. GBFB is committed to the belief that access to healthy food is a human right regardless of an individual’s circumstances. Through policy, partnerships, and providing free, nutritious, and culturally responsive food, GBFB is committed to addressing the root causes of food insecurity while promoting racial, gender and economic equity in food access. Together, we have the power to end hunger here. For more information and to help us help others, visit us at GBFB.org, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@gr8bosfoodbank) and Instagram, or call us at 617.427.5200. 

  

Media Contact  

Nate Hillyer 

The Castle Group   

860.574.5507 

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