Daily News

Terry Maxey Named Director of Open Pantry Community Services

SPRINGFIELD — Terry Maxey, former interim director of Open Pantry Community Services Inc., has been selected to permanently lead the agency as director. He has served as interim director of Open Pantry since November 2017, and has been with organization since February 2016.

“Both on a professional and personal basis, Terry is the best person to lead this important agency, and we are fortunate to have him at the helm,” Open Pantry board member Stephen Penna said. “Terry understands our mission and is deeply committed to the community served by this critically important agency. I am confident that, under Terry’s steady leadership, Open Pantry will continue to provide essential services for individuals and families throughout the Greater Springfield region.”

As director, Maxey will be responsible for managing all aspects of Open Pantry, which serves more than 18,000 low-income and disadvantaged people annually, with an approximately $3 million annual budget and 40 staff members.

Open Pantry meets the most basic needs of individuals and families by providing hot meals at its Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen. It also provides perishable and non-perishable food for people in need in the Springfield area through its Emergency Food Pantry Program. In addition, the pantry offers a program providing food assistance to seniors.

Open Pantry’s Open Door Social Services program provides case management, housing-search assistance, and medical, mental-health, and substance-abuse referrals for homeless people living in area shelters, on the streets, or in temporary locations in Western Mass.

“I have volunteered for Open Pantry Community Services, for over 20 years, and I’m excited for the opportunity to lead this agency to the next level,” Maxey said. “Open Pantry has a great management team and dedicated staff, and we are focused on continuing to deliver the highest-quality social services to those in need in our community.”

Before joining Open Pantry, Maxey served as director of Operations and project manager at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services in Springfield. There, he helped lead the multi-cultural, multi-service agency dedicated to empowering individuals and families in need. He also held a number of leadership positions within the private sector. He has been recognized for his leadership skills, receiving the 2017 SMOC Housing Team of the Year Award and the MLK Jr. Family Services Employee of the Quarter Award for outstanding performance and leadership.

Maxey is invested in the Springfield community and serves with a variety of organizations, including the executive and operational committees of the city of Springfield Health and Human Services, Springfield-Hampden County Continuum of Care board of directors. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Virginia State University and a certificate from Leadership of Pioneer Valley.