Rachel’s Table expands in Hampshire County

June 30, 2021 | Dennis Hackett
dhackett@thereminder.com

Manna Community Kitchen cook Lee Anderson receives a shipment of food from Atkins Farm.
Photo courtesy of Rachel’s Table

NORTHAMPTON – Along with its established services in Hampden and Franklin County, Rachel’s Table announced on June 21 it would be expanding its six-day-a-week food rescue program into Hampshire County.

Rachel’s Table Associate Director Sarah Maniaci said the expansion into Hampshire County includes more regular donation pickups and drop-offs to local agencies.

“Six days a week, our volunteers go out and they pick up food from food donors, which could be supermarkets, restaurants, caterers and big food wholesalers. They then bring food to an agency feeding the hungry and homeless, and we currently have 53 agencies that are part of the Rachel’s Table family,” she said.

Before expanding the six day a week program, Rachel’s Table Director Jodi Falk said the organization has worked in Hampshire County for 14 years.

“Prior to this expansion, we were in Hampshire County mainly as a gleaning program for 14 years now. That is just delivering food from farms to local agencies, so we have had a connection to agencies and farms up there. We have also done some special programs with the Northampton Survival Center, Manna Community Soup Kitchen and the Amherst Survival Center,” she said.

In addition to the gleaning program, Falk said the agencies in Hampshire County received fresh meat at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped accelerate a more permanent relationship.

“From part of our Healthy Community Emergency Food Fund, we gave hundreds of pounds of fresh meat, so we started establishing more of a relationship and learning what kind of food they needed at that time. It was a natural response to say let us make this more permanent,” she said.

Along with using the emergency food fund, Maniaci said Rachel’s Table teamed up with Arnold’s Meats to deliver meat in Hampshire County.

“We did the big emergency food fund with them, during the pandemic the supply chain was broken so we stepped in, found a vendor in Arnold’s Meats and we were making big purchases that Arnold’s was delivering,” she said.

Rachel’s Table is teaming up with the Amherst Survival Center and Manna Community Soup Kitchen as permanent agencies in Hampshire County through the new expansion.

“Right now, we have onboarded Amherst Survival Center and Manna Community Soup Kitchen. We were partners with the Northampton Survival Center during the pandemic, but we do special programs with them,” Falk said.

Maniaci said they currently pick up food from five locations in Hampshire County.

“We pick up from the Prides in Easthampton, Hadley and Northampton, along with Atkins Farm and Cooley Dickinson Hospital,” she said.

Maniaci said Cooley Dickinson has been a part of Rachel’s Table’s roster of donors for years prior to the new expansion.

“We have had Cooley Dickinson on our roster for a long time, but through conversations with them we realized the great need that was out there and that they had extra food,” she said.

Falk said the biggest change with the further expansion into Hampshire County is the seven volunteer drivers delivering food.

“We had a relationship and food delivery in Hampshire County, but it was not as much or as regular, so the biggest change along with a regular donation schedule and making those agencies official, is that we have seven drivers. Before we did not have any drivers in Hampshire County,” she said.

By moving into Hampshire County, Falk said Rachel’s Table is trying to fill in gaps for people that may need food.

“We are not going to interfere with what is already there, so we are filling in gaps because if food is going to waste and there are people that are hungry, that is not okay,” she said.

Anyone interested in volunteering with Rachel’s Table can go online to www.rachelstablepv.org or call 733-0084.

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