SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – For two weeks, Western Mass News teamed up with our friends from Margolis Orthodontics and 94.7 WMAS to collect food for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the community stepped up to fill box after box with donations. Those donations will now be collected, sorted, and distributed to the food bank. “Basically, what we do is we go through everything, we have to make sure nothing is expired, sort all that, and then sort it by category and eventually, we start putting it on our shelves for distribution to people who are coming in,” said Michael Akers, program director of the Open Pantry emergency food pantry in Springfield.
Akers stopped by Western Mass News on Tuesday pick up the donations and told us this is a great way to help those in need, which is something that tends to be a great need especially in recent years. While this drive is over, he explained that the need is always there. “I mean, food costs are going up. Inflation is still high. Food insecure people are a lot. People are very much food insecure and that’s what our mission is to help people with that,” he added.
Akers said that, judging by the amount of food collected at our studios and the other two stops, he estimated the total food collection to be a couple of thousand pounds. “I have to go by the pound, but I would imagine we’re talking about, based on what I’ve seen, a couple of thousand pounds at least,” he noted.
As the drive wraps up, organizers from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts said they are grateful for the overwhelming support from the community. All donations will be distributed by the Food Bank to local agencies to help make significant impact on local families in need.
In total, approximately 1,200 pounds of food was collected from the food drive, which will provide around 968 meals. Thank you to everyone for your support!
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