WESTERN MASS. –  No matter what time of year or the current economic circumstances, there is always a need for food pantry services. Hampden County has a variety of pantries and soup kitchens serving the food-insecure in its communities. Reminder Publishing reached out to several of the pantries to see how the need for services has been impacted over the course of the pandemic as well as where to go for services and how to help.

Note: This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of food pantries and organizations for those in need. For more information on resources for the food-insecure, contact the Help Line for Hampden County, Granby and South Hadley at 737-2712.
 
Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Operations Manager Mary Lou Guarnera said the pantry, which serves residents of both Granby and South Hadley, saw a substantial increase in need when the pandemic began. “There was a huge increase in the beginning, we creased by about 50 people per month in the beginning,” she said. Guarnera said when people began receiving “extra food stamps, the extra unemployment, stimulus,” they didn’t need to access the pantry as frequently.

However, she said, more recently the pantry had increased as the cost of food had increased. “Now I’m seeing an increase. The cost of food, the way it’s skyrocketing, people are starting to worry about if they can afford to eat,” she said.  

Guarnera said she found despite people being out of work during COVID-19, members of the community were generous with their donations to keep the pantry feeding those in need. “We got an amazing amount of help from the community, this community cares about their neighbors. There were some people that gave us their stimulus, people that give us checks every month, people that just give us foods,” she said. “It is just amazing to see how people care about their neighbors.”

Additionally, she said they are  a food pantry that is associated with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, who Guarnera said worked tirelessly to provide them with food. “They have also turned themselves inside out to access as much food as possible. They’ve done a fabulous job, it’s just wonderful,” she said. “They turned on a dime to meet the need when it started.”

She said now that summer had returned and children weren’t in school once again, they were continuing to distribute kids bags, something they had begun prior to the pandemic. “Before the pandemic started, we had been giving out kids' bags during school vacations whether [it is a] one week vacation or summer vacation, any time kids are out of school,” she said.

Guarnera said the bags were “designed to help out with breakfast, lunch [and] snacks.” While they were only giving them out during school vacations prior to the pandemic, she said since COVID-19, they had begun distributing them “all the time.” She said when families came to the food bank, each child received a bag that included breakfast foods, lunch foods and snacks. “In the summer it’s hard for parents to feed the kids, of course it’s been a constant summer for about a year and a half,” she said. “So there are a lot of kids needing food, so we do what we can to help them.”

At this time, she said items they “can’t keep in stock,” were tomato products and cold cereal. “It comes in and goes out in the same motion. In the summer kids tend to eat more cereal than hot oatmeal, a lot of kids eat cereal as snacks when they’re home and they’re not rushing to the bus so they can eat more cereal,” she said.

She said the need was ongoing, even when children go back to school. “It’s ongoing. It’s a constant stock and giving out, rotating things that we get in and give out. We’re not sitting on a mound of food all the time,” Guarnera said. “We got orders from the foodbank that look like an awful lot of food, and it is, and a week later it’s gone because of the need.”

One aspect of Neighbors Helping Neighbors that is unique is that there is no limit as to how many times those in need can visit the pantry per week. “We don’t limit what they can get and don't limit how often they can come. We have one strict rule, you cannot be hungry. You come when you need to come, do not think about a schedule, nobody judges,” she said. “If we notice someone coming more often than they have been, we talk to them. We’re here to give the food out, not to sit on it and we do it really well,” she said.

She said while the pantry is always in need of food and monetary donations, she encourages people to donate their time and volunteer at the pantry. “We always encourage people to donate or volunteer because it’s kind of life changing to be able to work directly with people in your community, both the people volunteering and the customers,” she said. “You get a sense of how we really are all one family, there isn’t an us and them. You really feel it when you’re here.”

Guarnera said “even if they can only do it for a short time or once a month,” there were always things to be done to help the pantry run effectively and properly. She said those wanting to donate goods, money or their time can either call the pantry at 437-7593 or visit their location at 30 Carew St. in South Hadley. She said she was “happy to have them drop by'' and people were welcome to “drop by,” on days they were open “any time from 9 a.m. until closing.” She said, “If they want to come any other day, if they see the van they can come on in.”

Those wanting more information and ways to donate can visit https://www.nhnfoodpantry.org and the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Facebook page.

Margaret’s Pantry at Providence Ministries

Executive Director of Providence Ministries Jennie Adamczyk said 2020 was “a record-breaking year as far as food services.” She said the food pantry saw a substantial increase in people needing help accessing food and they went from distributing 1.2 million pounds of food in 2019 to more than 1.8 million pounds of food in 2020.

Adamczyk said in addition to an increased demand, the socio-economic demographics of those needing to access the pantry has also changed. “We’ve seen a large increase in middle class, working poor needing access to our services. They’re employed and still not making ends meet and need help with food assistance,” she said. “That’s not new, but there’s an increased need for that. It’s a lot more difficult for people to get basic needs like groceries.”

One struggle Adamczyk said the food bank faced, however, was being able to keep up with demands, especially when businesses were forced to shut their doors. “With businesses closed, a large portion of our canned goods come from food drives. It was a major hit for us, preventing the typical amount of food we typically get,” she said.

However, In addition to their relationship with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts helping ensure their needs were met, she said the community was incredibly generous and came together. “There was a huge community rally, they were really generous with picking up extra food for us, making monetary donations. We have relationships, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is great, they made sure we had all we needed,” she said.

“It was kind of a miraculous thing for us in that every time our shelves got low and we were unsure if we could meet the community and demand that we have, another family would come in with a donation or a check would come through the mail to enable us to get what we needed,” she said. “While the pandemic brought a lot of empty spots where people are lacking, it showed us the very best in people as well. People were very generous in helping us help our community.”

Adamczyk said the pantry could “always use donations of non-perishable goods and monetary donations. She said they had seen an increase in the number of children they were feeding through the pantry with students being on summer vacation from school. “A lot of families relied on school lunches to feed their kids, once they were removed from schools a lot of families were left scrambling,” she said. “None of our programs stopped during the pandemic, I’m very proud to say we served our community in that way when things were difficult. It was only possible because people in our community came alongside us and said we want to meet that need with you.”

She said while any donations were accepted, “we try to ask our community to provide the extra things.” She said the extras would include “fun” items such as baking mixes, pastas in unique shapes or special snacks. “Certain things we get from the community that are fun. Just because you have to access the food pantry doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a cake mix,” she said.

Adamczyk added that when she goes shopping she tends to look for “soups that come in the princess shapes.” She said, “If I were struggling I wouldn't be able to provide that for my child, if I got that I would be so excited,” she said.

She encouraged those who were interested in donating to call the pantry at 538-8026 and speak to the manager, Brenda. She said drop offs were accepted at any time, but it was best to call ahead to ensure someone would be at the pantry to receive the donation,” she said. Those interested in donating money could do so by sending a check to 51 Hamilton St. Holyoke, MA 01040.

“When there’s an urgent need people are all about filling the need, but when things calm down they forget. Just because your life has calmed down doesn’t mean other peoples’ have,” she said.

More information about the pantry and other programs offered by Providence Ministries can be found online at provministries.org/portfolio/margarets-pantry/.

Community Survival Center

Based in Indian Orchard, the Community Survival Center’s emergency food pantry serves the 16 Acres, Pine Point, and Indian Orchard neighborhoods in Springfield, as well as the towns of Ludlow, Wilbraham and Hampden. For food-insecure residents meeting the USDA criteria, the Community Survival Center provides an emergency six-day supply of necessary grocery items, including meats, up to six times from July through June each year.

The organization also has two other food programs. A program for preschoolers offers 20 breakfasts, lunches, healthy snacks and often milk and juice to families already participating in the emergency food program. Families must commit to picking up the bagged groceries that make up these meals once a month until the child is old enough to enter full-time school.

There is also a Senior Outreach program which provides monthly bags of food to low-income households of one or two seniors in Hampden County.

There are criteria that must be met to take advantage of any of these programs, including verification of address with a current piece of postmarked mail for all adults in the household, verification of monthly income under USDA guidelines; a rent receipt, mortgage statement, or property tax bill and a birth certificate or health insurance card for each child in the household.

Currently, Executive Director Mary Cassidy told Reminder Publishing, the center is looking for volunteers.

The center had to change the way it worked during the pandemic and is now assuming a more normal operation.

She also suggested that if people have excess vegetables in their home gardens they might consider donating them to the center for distribution.

Canned protein such as corned beef hash, “chunky” soups and tuna are also always in demand, she added.

People who are interested in supporting the center are asked to consider looking for clothes and household items at its thrift shop.

People interested in volunteering to help the center, located at 240 Main St., are encouraged to participate in a community food drive, drop off food and clothing, host a food drive or become a corporate sponsor. The Community Survival Center food pantry is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 543-3930.

 The Gray House

Despite a sense of normalcy returning after the COVID-19 pandemic, Executive Director of The Gray House Kristen McClintock said that they are still seeing an increased need for their services.

“As you can imagine, the need has been unsurpassed this past year since COVID-19 started. And really there’s no sign of it waning. I know that things are getting back to normal for a lot of people, but really for our neighbors in need and those who were struggling even prior to the pandemic, they’re still having a hard time,” she said.

The Gray House is still serving 250 to 300 families each week, which is over 1,000 people. McClintock said that they have luckily had partners such as the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, local agencies and individual donors who have kept them going.

During the summer months, shelters and pantries often see a lack of donations and volunteers. Many experience an influx during the holiday season and then a slow decrease with people taking time off, going on vacation and focusing less on giving back.

McClintock acknowledged this, but said that they actually see an increase in their offerings of fresh and local produce.

“I think generally speaking, we do sometimes see a little bit of a dip in the individual donors because people are busy, especially this summer when people have been cooped up for a year. I think everyone’s excited to get out and get back, but we have been really lucky. We have really great donors at The Gray House,” she said. The nice thing about summer is that we partner with certain agencies or schools who do weekly donations of fresh, organic produce. So in some ways, our fresh, organic and local produce can increase in the summer because we have a lot of great farmers markets and things like that and when they do have surplus they can give it to us.”

According to McClintock, The Gray House has a lot of Hispanic clientele and they are currently seeking donations of side dishes such as yellow rice and beans. They are also looking for Knorr side dishes, pop top cans of soup and single serving meals for those who don’t always have can openers or utensils.

With their Hispanic clientele, McClintock said The Gray House is also seeking more Spanish speaking volunteers.

“If we have extra Spanish speaking volunteers we can communicate additional information and program services to them in their native language,” she said.

The Gray House is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and donations cannot be accepted out of that time in order to preserve freshness and ensure safety. Those interested in donating to The Gray House are encouraged to call beforehand. Donors are able to call 734-6696 ext. 3 to speak directly with Ben Holt, food program director.

Interested volunteers are encouraged to call McClintock directly at 734-6696 ext. 2 or visit their website at https://grayhouse.org/ to fill out an application.

“We’re a small agency, so our volunteers are at the heart of what we do. We couldn’t do what we do without them and we have a really great team. One of the things that I love is our volunteers really do feel like family. The people who join us do it because they want to help the community, but they kind of also find this set group of friends who are really like-minded and our volunteers have a lot of fun while they’re here so that’s nice,” she said.

The Gray House offers food distribution services every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and every second and fourth Friday of the month from 4 to 6 p.m. There is curbside, no contact pickup for those with cars and walk-ups are accepted as well.

McClintock said that those who have never used The Gray House’s services before will fill out a quick intake form and won’t be required to show identification or proof of income. Social distancing is still required during pick-up. The Gray House is located at 22 Sheldon St. in Springfield.

Enfield Loaves and Fishes

A 501(c) (3) non-profit soup kitchen in Enfield, CT., Loaves and Fishes offers their services to the food-insecure in Enfield and the surrounding communities.

To-go meals are served Sunday through Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. and Saturday 11:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. Meals are served outside out of an abundance of pandemic-related caution.

The organization is accepting donations, particularly, canned chicken or any type of canned meat; individually-served drinks, such as Gatorade, Powerade, or juice boxes; any types of snacks and packets of mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, relish, and salt & pepper. Donations can be dropped off at Enfield Loaves & Fishes, 23 North Main St., Enfield, Sunday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. While the organization usually accepts clothing as well as foodstuffs, a moratorium has been placed on clothing donations in the interest of COVID-19 safety. The organization asks people to call when they drop off donations, so they can be met outside.

Enfield Loaves and Fishes is running a fundraiser through https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/enfield-loaves-and-fishes-help-us-feed-our-neighbors. It has raised $700 of its $250,000 goal.

There are also volunteer opportunities. People are needed to pack to-go bags and prepare food weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and help unload deliveries three days per week. More information about volunteer and donation opportunities is available at 860-741-0226.

 Longmeadow Open Pantry

While the Longmeadow Open Pantry is run through the town’s Adult Center, it is open to all Longmeadow residents in need, regardless of age. Due to the recent construction of the new building, the service is still housed in the Greenwood Center. Once the new facility is open, the pantry will be housed there.

“We do not have any events planned at this time but we are hoping to have a few food drives once we move into our new facility,” said James Leydon, director of the Longmeadow Council on Aging.

Like many food pantries, concerns around COVID-19 have led the Longmeadow Open Pantry to operate by appointment only. First-time users of the service will need to fill out an intake form. Residents can call 565-4150 to schedule access to the pantry or a time to drop off non-perishable donations. Monetary donations can be made online by following the link at https://www.longmeadow.org/152/Longmeadow-Open-Pantry.

Community Survival Center

Based in Indian Orchard, the Community Survival Center’s emergency food pantry serves the 16 Acres, Pine Point, and Indian Orchard neighborhoods in Springfield, as well as the towns of Ludlow, Wilbraham and Hampden. For food-insecure residents meeting the USDA criteria, the Community Survival Center provides an emergency six-day supply of necessary grocery items, including meats, up to six times from July through June each year.

The organization also has two other food programs. A program for preschoolers offers 20 breakfasts, lunches, healthy snacks and often milk and juice to families already participating in the emergency food program. Families must commit to picking up the bagged groceries that make up these meals once a month until the child is old enough to enter full-time school.

There is also a Senior Outreach program which provides monthly bags of food to low-income households of one or two seniors in Hampden County.

There are criteria that must be met to take advantage of any of these programs, including verification of address with a current piece of postmarked mail for all adults in the household, verification of monthly income under USDA guidelines; a rent receipt, mortgage statement, or property tax bill and a birth certificate or health insurance card for each child in the household.

People interested in volunteering to help the center, located at 240 Main St., are encouraged to participate in a community food drive, drop off food and clothing, host a food drive or become a corporate sponsor. The Community Survival Center food pantry is open Tuesday and Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information, call 543-3930.

East Longmeadow Council on Aging Food Pantry

“We’re kind of a split between a mobile pantry and a call-in pantry,” said Elizabeth Baron, food pantry coordinator at the East Longmeadow Council on Aging. The service delivers food to homebound individuals, people with short-term disabilities that keep them from going out, such as those in recovery from chemotherapy or surgery. There is also the opportunity to call the center between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. to request groceries for pick-up at the Pleasant View Senior Center, 328 N Main St. Because of lingering pandemic concerns, people are not allowed in the pantry.

“There’s a short intake questionnaire but it’s not very intrusive, just basic information,” Baron said.

As for needing donations, Baron said, “Always. We really rely on the community.” She said that Big Y donates meat and produce, while shoppers there and at Stop & Shop put donations in bins that she picks up regularly. Even so, she said donations are slower in the summer because people go on vacation.

If people want to donate directly to the pantry, Baron can be reached at 525-5436 ext. 1408. There are no restrictions on food donated and both monetary donations and gift cards are also accepted.

Despite the pantry being run from the senior center, there are no age limitations to who it serves. Baron said, “If there’s residents in need, we’re here to help.”