Centre Street Food Pantry Announces Grant From Greater Boston Food Bank
Funds Will Support CSFP’s “No Child Hungry This Summer” Campaign
Newton, MA – June 25, 2024 - Newton, MA - Centre Street Food Pantry, a nonprofit regional food relief agency located in Newton Centre, announces that it received a $9,525 community investment grant from The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). The grant funds will be applied to purchase new refrigerators which will have an immediate impact on Centre Street’s “No Child Hungry This Summer” campaign.
Through its ambitious No Child Hungry campaign, Centre Street will provide its clients with children an additional bag of fresh food suitable for children’s lunches each time they visit the pantry. The additional bag will include milk, sandwich rolls, cheese, deli meat, and fruits.
“The Greater Boston Food Bank’s community investment grant will help Centre Street give children fresh food for lunch this summer,” said Rose Saia, Executive Director of Centre Street Food Pantry. “We know that many families with children need and appreciate this healthy food, and we’re grateful that we have the support of Greater Boston Food Bank and all the generous donors to our No Child Hungry Summer campaign who make it possible for us to reduce food insecurity in the six communities we serve.”
Centre Street Food Pantry’s No Child Hungry Campaign is in its third summer and is a supplement to its Kids Club program, which runs all year long and provides an extra dry grocery bag of kid friendly food for breakfast, lunch and snacks to every family with children. More than 60% of the families Centre Street serves have children and the agency provides healthy food for approximately 1,400 children each month.
The grant award coincides with GBFB’s fourth annual report on food insecurity, equity and access in Massachusetts. The 2024 study, “Opportunities to Improve Food Equity & Access in Massachusetts,” reveals consistently high rates of food insecurity in the state and sustained disparities in food access for communities of color and households with children. The study estimates approximately 1.9 million adults in Massachusetts are food insecure, an increase from last year’s estimated 1.8 million adults, and that in 2023 one in three Massachusetts households with children reported child-level food insecurity, meaning a child went hungry, skipped a meal or didn’t eat for an entire day because there wasn’t enough money for food.
“GBFB’s network of dedicated agency partners continue to inspire us to be innovative in our efforts to address food insecurity across Eastern Massachusetts,” said Catherine D’Amato, president and CEO at GBFB. “With sustained inequities in food access across our region, we aim to continue to invest in those communities facing a heightened need for food and drive progress towards hunger relief through strategic grantmaking to our network of agency partners.”
About The Greater Boston Food Bank
The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and among the largest food banks in the country. As the food bank for Eastern Massachusetts, GBFB is feeding people in 190 towns across the region, distributing the equivalent of nearly 90 million meals through a network of 600 dedicated food distribution partners and programs. A member of the national Feeding America network, GBFB’s mission is to end hunger here. The organization remains 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. 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.
About Centre Street Food Pantry
Centre Street Food Pantry’s mission is to provide our communities with consistent and inclusive access to healthy food, with kindness and dignity. The nonprofit regional food relief agency is open weekly to assist residents of Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown and Wellesley. Centre Street consistently provides a variety of fresh food and essential items to all who visit, and has created special programs designed to meet the needs of senior citizens and children. For more information about these programs and others, as well as current initiatives, fundraising needs and news, please visit www.centrestfoodpantry.org or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Dan Foley
Centre Street Food Pantry
d.foley@centrestfoodpantry.org
508-272-0017 mobile
