Greetings All...
I think I have this figured out!!!! But don't hold me to it! LOL
With the increase in number of food pantries and other agencies helping with food insecurity, there has been tremendous strain placed on the pickup time allotments at the Food Bank. Smaller agencies like ours are being forced to collaborate with other agencies. We have now been accepted into the Goodwill fold for pickups in Chicopee. Although I will no longer have to drive to Chicopee to pickup our order, this new system does present other issues.
Goodwill delivers to agencies in Northern Berkshire County on Friday... too late for our current Friday food pantry day and time. As a result, we will have to change our pantry day to Monday. Starting in January, we will be holding regular food pantries on the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month. Goodwill will deliver the Friday before each food pantry. Friday's delivery will be stored over the weekend for distribution on Monday. There is no problem for non-perishable and frozen items, but we have limited refrigeration for items such as dairy and produce. The good news here though is that I've been informed that we have attained the 6 month level which qualifies us to apply for a grant of up to $5,000. Will look into whether a commercial refrigerator can be purchased under this program. Also, we now qualify for food from the USDA programs, however, that comes with it's own set of storage requirements and reporting. I'll be looking more into the USDA program to see if it's appropriate for us.
For December food pantries... the Food Bank will be closed for the holidays from December 24th through January 2nd. There will be no orders or pickups during this time. Working with Goodwill and looking at the calendar, we will have two pantries in December, Monday the 15th and Monday the 22nd from 10am to noon each day. However, there will be three deliveries. Goodwill will deliver on Friday, December 12th, Wednesday, December 17th, and Friday, December 19th. This should give us plenty of food for distribution before the holidays. As always, we will need help carrying food into the building from the truck should anyone wish to assis
As a side note, I've been thinking about sponsoring food donation days where folks can bring in non-perishable food items. Cash is good too! If anyone has ideas or interest in this, please let me know.
Thanks... John
Posted: to General News on Thu, Dec 4, 2025
Updated: Thu, Dec 4, 2025