Energy & Environment

 

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

The Merrimack Valley Food Bank is a community-supported 501C-3 non-profit organization that provides nutritious food and personal care items to emergency feeding programs serving the low-income, homeless and hungry. They are one of four food banks in Massachusetts that serves food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, day and residential programs that in turn, serve individuals and families.

 

Contact: Amy Pessia, Executive Director: apessia@mvfb.org

Website: Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Organizational Focus

  • Food Access, Food Assistance & Emergency Food: Aggregating, storing, and distributing food to individuals and families through main food bank hub and a network of food pantries, shelters, and schools. The food bank is able to handle a large volume of shelf stable and perishable food items, and has developed a network of organizational and commercial donors.

  • Culturally Appropriate Food: Working with the World PEAS Food Hub and local farmers to purchase culturally diverse produce for the community market program.

Projects and Initiatives

The Merrimack Valley Food Bank acts as a food hub within the emergency food providers network by collecting, storing, and distributing food to local food pantries and shelters, in addition to individual clients. The food bank is partnering with several Lowell food pantries to organize a referral-based mobile pantry program with the goal of expanding food access points to additional neighborhoods. The food bank also runs a food rescue program that collects extra prepared food and fresh produce from supermarkets for distribution to other emergency food service providers. Additionally, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank runs a Community Market program (based out of 3 Lowell Housing Authority properties) and coordinates school nutrition and summer feeding Programs with both local schools and the Lowell Parks and Rec Department.

Partnerships

  • New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

  • Lowell Housing Authority

  • Lowell YWCA

  • Lowell Parks and Recreation

Networks

  • Local Farmers

  • Food Distributors

  • Volunteers

Geographic Scale:

Regional

Content created by Metabolic Consulting