Catherine's Message Dear Friends, For the 1 in 11 people struggling with hunger in Eastern Massachusetts, nutrient-rich foods like fresh fruits and vegetables are often too expensive to buy. Yet these are the foods people need to stay healthy. Without proper nutrition, food-insecure individuals have a higher risk of chronic diseases and can’t focus at school or work. That’s why GBFB is committed to distributing high quality, nutritious food that helps the people we serve maintain a healthy diet. You can help us by support- ing our second annual Spring for Meals campaign this March. Visit our website to learn how a $50 donation can provide a month’s worth of fresh fruits and vegetables for three children in need. This fresh produce nourishes people struggling with hunger all across Eastern Massachusetts, including Bob in Taunton, who’s story you’ll find inside this issue. You’ll also read about how we’re helping our network of partner agencies acquire and distribute more food, and how we’re educating the future doctors of America about food insecurity and the connection between hunger and health. Your donations help us provide healthy food to seniors like Bob and so many individuals and families in Eastern Massachusetts. I thank you for your continued support. Together, we can end hunger here. Sincerely, Catherine D’Amato President and CEO GBFB.org/our-programs LEARN MORE AT Your Support Brought 1 Million Meals to Taunton 2 The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) serves people in 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts, including the city of Taunton, where 1 in 8 people are food insecure. This means over 7,500 Taunton residents don’t consistently know where their next meal is coming from, a daunting situation. In the past 12 months, GBFB has distributed over 1 million pounds of healthy food—the equivalent of 1.2 million meals—to eight different hunger-relief partners we work with in Taunton. This includes a GBFB “Brown Bag” location, which has operated out of the Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Taunton for the past 8 years. “It’s a big impact on the lives of the people who come here,” said Lynn Clifford, site coordinator for the Taunton Brown Bag. GBFB’s Brown Bag distributions occur once a month in 15 locations across Eastern Massachusetts, providing thousands of seniors in need with nutritious food to keep them healthy. The Taunton site helps nearly 500 seniors a month. The church is also the site of the Our Daily Bread meal program, which serves hot meals to hundreds of people in need every day. The program receives nearly half of its food from GBFB. “You think you’re just providing food [for the guests] but you’re really not, you’re providing a lot more for them spiritually,” Lynn said. Judith, a volunteer and recipient of food at the Taunton Brown Bag, helps to pack nutritious food for the nearly 500 seniors a month who participate in the program.