Staff Highlight
Meet the Food Assistance Navigators
Sary Torres and Alan Dallmann are part of the four-person Food Assistance Navigation Team (FAN). In just a few years, this relatively new, four-person team has aided thousands of people in Western Massachusetts who have screened positive for food insecurity at area health centers and physicians’ offices. In this video, Sary and Alan explain why this work is so crucial and why they consider their work a calling.
Community Engagement Team (CET)
“You can do the work. You can be about it.”
The Community Engagement Team’s journey has included hands-on learning experiences and policy engagement, including learning about the Food Bank’s state and federal advocacy priorities and participating first-hand in a Lobby Day at the State House in Boston. There, CET members advocated for increased HIP (Healthy Incentives Program) funding, sharing their personal stories with legislators to underscore the human impact of policy decisions.
Food Pantry
“There is help.”
Mercado de Vida is operated by an amazing team from Roots & Dreams & Mustard Seeds, a collective of community members and volunteers that “aim[s] to empower vulnerable individuals through economic participation and ownership opportunities.”
We’re proud to partner with Mercado de Vida, providing support and a portion of the food they distribute regularly at their pantry.
Everybody is just friendly, they make you feel welcome. They don’t judge you, and they definitley don’t shut the doors on you.
— Stephanie LaFountain, Pittsfield Resident
Mobile Food Bank
“The people here are extremely friendly, and very helpful.”
Grenville Park in Ware, Massachusetts serves as just one distribution site for the Food Bank’s Mobile Food Bank program. Learn from volunteers and guests why the Mobile Food Bank serves as a critical monthly grocery supplement for individuals and families experiencing food insecurity and hunger.
SNAP and Wraparound Services
“Helping people is in their DNA”
Megan Schuck, Senior SNAP Coordinator at the Food Bank, and Corey Houston, founder of “Breaking the Core,” are passionate about supporting individuals who need assistance. They both spend a lot of time at AISS, All-Inclusive Support Services, in Springfield lending a helping hand.
A lot of the individuals I see at AISS are recently incarcerated, and some of them are not even from Springfield so they don’t know the area… so when they come to me for SNAP purposes yes, I help them with SNAP, but there’s also more social work going on as well.
— -Megan Schuck, Senior SNAP Coordinator
Ethical Storytelling
At the Food Bank, we deeply respect the power of personal stories—and the courage it takes to share them. We recognize that storytelling is an act of vulnerability, and that, historically, the nonprofit and charity sector has too often exploited people’s stories and images—removing their agency and using their lived experiences to serve organizational goals.
We are committed to doing things differently.
Over the past several years, the Food Bank has been on a journey to understand and embed ethical storytelling practices into all aspects of our work. Our goal is to challenge harmful norms, center the voices of those with lived experience, and ensure that every story is shared with dignity, consent, and care.
Below is our Ethical Storytelling Pledge—our commitment to the storytellers who entrust us with their stories. While we’ve worked hard to make it as thoughtful and comprehensive as possible, we know this work is never finished. This pledge is a living document, and we will continue to evolve it based on feedback, learning, and the needs of our storytellers over time.
Our Ethical Storytelling Pledge
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts Iterative Ethical Storytelling Pledge
v.1 (September 11, 2024)
Thank you for sharing your story with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. We understand that sharing your personal story requires effort and vulnerability, and we’re grateful for your time, energy and expertise. Your leadership is important to help address food insecurity in our communities.
Sharing your personal story:
- Inspires other impacted leaders to raise their voices & build power together.
- Raises awareness about social and economic barriers in our communities.
- Encourages everyone in the community to take a stand against hunger.
- Holds politicians accountable to end hunger through policy change.
- Can help put our struggles into greater social context, reminding ourselves, and others who are impacted by hunger and food insecurity, that we are not alone.
- Can help build useful skills like public speaking.
Storytellers Bill of Rights
As a storyteller, I have:
- Control over how, when, and where the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is sharing my story.
- The right to ask for training, preparation, guidance, or support before and after sharing my story.
- The right to know the intended purpose of sharing my story with the Food Bank, how the story will be used, and when it will be shared.
- The right to change my mind about making my story public and can request, in writing, via letter, email, or digital text message, it be removed from the Food Bank website and social media channels at any time.
- The right to ask for a copy of my story in a format that is accessible to me and members of my community.
- The right to answer only the questions I feel comfortable responding to. I do not have to share any part of my story that I don’t feel safe and comfortable making public.
Principles of Trust
When asking you to share your story, the Food Bank promises:
- To respect and recognize you as a person with many experiences and interests, not just the struggles with food insecurity you may share.
- To respect the expertise and wisdom you have gained through all your life experiences.
- To help you prepare for the speaking engagement if public speaking will be a part of sharing your story.
- To provide support and resources, when appropriate, to facilitate your participation (before, during, and after) in this work.
- To give you the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the story before it is published (for stories appearing in print or digital format), and to choose to request, in writing, via letter, email, or digital text message, removal of your story from publication at any time.
- To contact the media with corrections if they make an error in reporting your story, your name, or your gender identity and pronouns, after receiving a written message from you in writing, via letter, email, or digital text message that there was an error.
- To provide support, understanding the Food Bank cannot control external media outlets, we will do our best to help you with any changes or retractions.
- To acknowledge the impact of sharing your story, and to be mindful of when, how, and why we are asking you to participate in a storytelling process with the Food Bank.
Our quarterly Word of Mouth Newsletter (WOM) keeps supporters informed and engaged in our work. It features updates on the organization’s initiatives, stories of impact, and ways individuals can contribute to addressing food insecurity in the community.