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The Sun News: Merrimack Valley Food Bank takes hunger off the table

Link to article by Melanie Gilbert of The Sun News:  https://www.lowellsun.com/2025/01/12/merrimack-valley-food-bank-takes-hunger-off-the-table/

LOWELL — Debbie Callery, the executive director of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, has a lot on her plate.

She presented an overview of the numerous services and programs the nonprofit runs in the community to the City Council’s Nonprofit Subcommittee Tuesday night.

“We are a food distribution center to the emergency feeding program,” she told Councilors Erik Gitschier, Vesna Nuon and Corey Robinson.

The organization has been feeding families since 1981 through bulk food it receives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state. The nonprofit serves more than 30 cities and towns and distributes nearly 4 million pounds of food each year. MVFB serves an average of 70,000 persons each month through partnerships with over 100 member agencies including food pantries, meal programs, shelters and schools, as well as through several direct-service hunger-relief programs.

As the need in the community continues to grow, Callery said MVFB will continue to expand its mission.

“In addition to that food distribution program, we operate direct service programs,” she said. “Our mobile pantry serves 300 seniors in the Greater Lowell area, providing a monthly delivery of groceries containing enough food to prepare somewhere between 26-30 meals.”

The Lowell Transitional Living Center is a recipient of MVFB’s direct-service hunger-relief program. For more than 38 years, the emergency shelter on Middlesex Street has been the primary destination for any unhoused individual adult seeking shelter in the city of Lowell.

The largest homeless shelter and support organization north of Boston served more than 65,000 meals to its clients in 2024, and a lot of that food came from the MVFB.

“LTLC is a client,” Callery said. “They come to the food bank weekly to obtain food that they use to prepare meals.”

In addition to delivering food to area pantries and client-centered organizations like LTLC, the MVFB is an invaluable partner for the Lowell Public Schools. For many of the district’s students, school is the place where they receive the majority of their meals and snacks.

“This year, we hit a milestone with our children’s feeding program serving all 27 schools in Lowell,” Callery said. “We have two components to the program, one of which is called Operation Nourish. In the middle school and the high school, we have in-school pantries that are called Mill Markets that we stock monthly with healthy, shelf stable food items.”

The concept has since expanded, made possible in conjunction with the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and Catie’s Closet.

“There’s nothing worse than seeing a child go home or come to school hungry,” Gitschier said, while saying what the nonprofit did in the community was “extremely important.”

At the elementary school level, students receive a bag to take home Friday afternoon to get them through the weekend. The programs make it possible for Lowell students and their families to not only survive, but to thrive, said LPS spokesperson Jennifer Myers.

“Particularly today, when a dollar doesn’t go quite as far as it used to at the grocery store, many families are struggling to provide enough food for their growing, active kids,” Myers said by email on Friday. “These programs provide nutritious and delicious food for students to bring home, are not only life savers – but also quality-of-life savers.”

In partnership with the USDA, MVFB also runs a robust summer meals program at city parks and pools, serving 12 sites and preparing 16,000 meals in a six-week period during the school break.

As if that’s not enough on Callery’s plate, she and her team also run a seasonal program called the Community Market, a free farmer’s market-style program serving public housing properties in Greater Lowell.

“Right now, we have four sites in the city, and we’re hoping to add another one next summer,” she said. “We’re probably serving 1,000 people a month. We provide fresh produce, diary, proteins and supermarket gift cards.”

The organization’s work isn’t going unnoticed. In 2023, MVFB was selected to receive $225,000 over the next three years from the Cummings Foundation’s $30 Million Grant Program.

“Cummings Foundation has provided extremely generous support to our organization over the years,” Callery said in a statement announcing news of the award. “These unrestricted grant funds allow us to grow and adapt quickly to meet needs or respond to emergencies as they arise in our community. We are grateful for the confidence this grant indicates that Cummings Foundation has in our team and our vision at MVFB.”

In early 2024, MVFB expanded its footprint and moved to a new facility on Middlesex Street in the Highlands neighborhood. The one-level warehouse with administrative offices and several loading docks has streamlined MVFB operations.

“Everything is going well,” Callery said. “Come and take a tour to see what’s going on.”

The MVFB offers free tours of its new facility. Call 978-454-7272 to arrange a visit. To donate to or inquire about volunteer opportunities at MVFB, visit mvfb.org.