Page 19 - BusinessWest January 22, 2024

nal discussion and planning, and I just had the faith that we could accomplish it and that the community would rally behind us, and they did,” he said. “Our board felt the same way, so we went pub- lic after we secured some of those large commitments. So we had something to start with, and then we were able to inspire and per- suade the rest of the community to jump on board, and they did.”
One factor, he noted, was that the pandemic focused more atten- tion nationally on the issue of food insecurity across the country — attention that was needed even before COVID, but was definitely in the public eye now.
“If we don’t acknowledge that the problem exists and we don’t, as a society, want to do something about it, we’re not going to make any progress,” he said. “So it was gratifying that the community rallied behind our campaign to help us to be successful. And now we have this facility, this community resource, that can make even greater impact in addressing food insecurity, but also to serve as
a place for convening, for learning, for collaborating, for taking action.”
The ‘action’ part of that goal is clearly the most important.
“If we’re ever going to end hunger, we need to raise awareness, and that happens through education and dialogue, but also through the power of public policy and the changes that we can make to public policy and investments in people, families, and communi- ties to ensure that everyone can lead a healthy and productive life,” Morehouse said.
“That means addressing not only the food assistance that people need today, but the underlying causes of hunger,” he went on. “Do people have access to affordable housing, childcare, transportation, education, jobs that pay a meaningful wage to support families? All of those are things we need to be looking at as a society.”
After 19 years in charge of the Food Bank, it’s a lesson that
has grown clearer every year. “I’ve been in the nonprofit world for over 30 years,” he said, “and I’ve always enjoyed building things, building capacity, because that’s how, ultimately, I think you create social change and economic change for the better, for families and communities.”
In and Out
The Food Bank’s reach is impressive, serving as a clearinghouse of emergency food for the region, most distributed to local food pan- tries, meal sites, and shelters.
Much of the food the organization collects is purchased, using state and federal funds, from wholesalers, local supermarkets, and dozens of local farms; farmers also donate more than a half-million pounds of food each year.
“We then turn that food around — we store it here and distribute it through a vast network of about 175 food pantries, meal sites, and shelters across all four counties of Western Massachusetts,” Morehouse explained. “That’s how about 85% of the food that we receive flows through, ultimately to individuals in need of food assistance.”
In addition, the Food Bank operates a mobile food bank for direct-to-household distribution at 26 sites once or twice a month, plus a brown-bag program for elders that boasts 52 partners, main- ly senior centers. The nonprofit also receives reimbursements to provide some individuals with supermarket gift cards, in addition to referring them to food-pantry meal sites.
And because food insecurity is often entangled with other eco- nomic and social needs, “we do refer individuals to some other non- profit partners who can provide them with affordable-housing assis- tance, transportation, childcare, job training, things of that sort,” Morehouse added, noting that the Food Bank uses the 413Cares system to coordinate referrals with partners. “We’re all trying to figure it out and find a way to help people lead healthy, productive lives.”
Some of the Food Bank’s top supporters recognize the impor- tance of those efforts.
“Our goal, our mission, is to feed families,” outgoing Big Y Presi- dent and CEO Charlie D’Amour (see story on page 4) said when announcing financial support for the Food Bank early in the cam- paign. “We have people in our communities that are really strug- gling to get food on their table. The role of food banks serving local neighborhoods has never been more important.”
Country Bank President Paul Scully felt the same when
“If we don’t acknowledge that the problem exists and we don’t, as
a society, want
to do something about it, we’re not going to make any progress.”
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