East Boston based Project Bread has awarded more than $1.79 million to 365 community food programs in 110 Massachusetts communities, including 130 programs at not-for-profit organizations in here and throughout Greater Boston this week.
Among the recipients will be the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center who helps run free lunch and nutrition programs in the area.
“Hunger is a very real, chronic condition in our state,” said Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread. “There is no typical hungry person. And we know that it takes more than one solution to solve a problem as complex, and yet as personal, as hunger. Each of the organizations we funded provides a critical role in helping to solve hunger in the community.”
Project Bread runs and supports programs that connect community farms to local food pantries; screen families for hunger within health centers; and make it possible for people in need to pick up food with dignity.
In addition to funding community foods programs across the state, Project Bread also funds the FoodSource Hotline—a toll-free hotline that is the only comprehensive statewide information and referral service in Massachusetts for people facing hunger. To learn about food resources in your community, call 1-800-645-8333.
“Since 1990, Project Bread has been our dedicated partner in providing life-nourishing meals to women with few other resources,” says Yan Ho, of Women’s Lunch Place in Boston, which also received a grant. “With a struggling economy and increasing needs, Project Bread helps us to continue providing fresh, nutritious meals for the women who rely on us.”