The Food Bank receives $25,000 grant award from Citizens Bank

As part of their Citizens Bank Fighting Hunger campaign, Citizens Bank has awarded The Food Bank with a $25,000 grant to support the distribution of healthy emergency food throughout the region.

This generous contribution will allow our organization to distribute even more nutritious food to 200 member agencies (comprised of food pantries, meal programs, community centers and shelters) in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire Counties. It will also allow us to assist individuals facing hunger through our direct-to-client feeding programs, including the Mobile Food Bank and Brown Bag: Food for Elders.

“We are thrilled to receive this generous contribution from Citizens Bank,” says Andrew Morehouse, The Food Bank’s executive director. “It is through these strong partnerships that we can continue to provide access to healthy food for households in our community who are at risk of hunger.”

Last year, we distributed more than 11.6 million pounds of food — the equivalent of 9.6 million meals. Of that food, 51% was perishable foods, including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. Currently, more than 225,000 people throughout western Massachusetts rely on the services of The Food Bank and our member agencies (28% are kids under the age of 18, and 16% are seniors over the age of 65).