Your Donation Makes Our Agencies Stronger To better educate and empower our partner agencies to help their clients choose and use healthy food, the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) recently launched our Healthy Pantry Program. The program features an online training program developed by GBFB’s two registered dietitians that teaches participants about Click N’ Cook, our online recipe database; SWAP, our nutrition measurement system; and Nudges, small changes a pantry can make to shift people’s behavior in a healthy way. Each section consists of learning videos, pre and post-video quizzes and an activity to apply at the pantry. Five pantries participated in the pilot program, with five more slated to join the next program offering this summer. 5 A New Program Putting Healthy Food in the Hands of Hungry People This past year, The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) gave more grants to our partner agencies than ever before. And this spring we delivered our biggest grant ever—$25,000 toward the purchase of a new refrigerated truck at Interfaith Social Services, one of our partner agencies in Quincy. We’re only as strong as our network of over 500 partner agencies, and we try to make it stronger every year by providing grants to help agencies order, store and distribute more high-quality food to struggling families in their community. “Over the past few years we have seen the number of clients we serve steadily increase while the amount of food that we could collect from GBFB was capped because of the size of our truck,” said Rick Doane, executive director of Interfaith Social Services. According to Rick, the number of clients visiting his pantry has more than doubled in the past decade; they now help nearly 1,800 people a month. The new refrigerated truck is helping them pick up more fresh, perishable food at GBFB and bolster their food rescue program, which accounts for more than half of the food they distribute annually. “We knew the food was there waiting for us, but we couldn’t access it,” Rick said. “Now we can.” A still image from one of the Healthy Pantry Program instructional training videos featuring GBFB Manager of Nutrition Rachel Caty. “These small changes in the way we offer food and share recipes have led to big changes in improving our clients’ potential to make healthier choices,” said Kelsey Hampton, food pantry and volunteer director at the Natick Service Council, one of the participating pantries. “For example, instead of boxed meals, we display all food together at eye level to make a one-pot meal but with less sodium and preservatives than a Hamburger Helper-type meal.” This program emphasizes the importance of not just delivering healthy food, but of giving our partner agencies the knowledge and tools to give more of that food to the families they serve. (From left) GBFB Senior Director of Distribution Services Jonathan Tetrault and Interfaith Social Services Executive Director Rick Doane alongside Interfaith Social Services staff members behind the pantry’s new refrigerated truck.