Amherst Survival Center
Florence Bank Gives $10,000 to Amherst Survival Center
Funds to support the expansion of their Food Pantry services this fall
We’re proud to announce the we recently donated $10,000 to the Amherst Survival Center! The Amherst Survival Center connects residents of Hampshire & Franklin Counties to food, clothing, healthcare, wellness, and community, primarily through volunteer efforts.
Since mid-March, the Amherst Survival Center has focused their resources on food and nutrition programs, ensuring they're able to provide hot meals to go, daily access to fresh produce and bread, and full grocery shops from their Food Pantry in as safe a manner as possible.
This summer, the Survival Center established a strategic plan to address the steady rise of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their plan entails doubling the food provided by their Food Panty while also expanding their grocery offerings to roughly two weeks each month. Additionally, they will expand their staff in order to implement evening and weekend hours and integrate deliveries into their schedules with a goal of delivering food to 1,000 - 1,500 area residents per month.
Lev Ben-Ezra, Executive Director of the Amherst Survival Center said, “We had a very busy summer season. We’ve continued to see more and more people for lunch, and had many new households sign up for the Food Pantry, both to pick up onsite and for our rapidly growing delivery program.” She added, “With the help of our amazing volunteers and support staff, we spent the summer passing out produce, cooking up to 250 lunches per day, and in August alone, we delivered groceries to nearly 1,000 people.”
Since mid-March, the Amherst Survival Center has focused their resources on food and nutrition programs, ensuring they're able to provide hot meals to go, daily access to fresh produce and bread, and full grocery shops from their Food Pantry in as safe a manner as possible.
This summer, the Survival Center established a strategic plan to address the steady rise of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their plan entails doubling the food provided by their Food Panty while also expanding their grocery offerings to roughly two weeks each month. Additionally, they will expand their staff in order to implement evening and weekend hours and integrate deliveries into their schedules with a goal of delivering food to 1,000 - 1,500 area residents per month.
Lev Ben-Ezra, Executive Director of the Amherst Survival Center said, “We had a very busy summer season. We’ve continued to see more and more people for lunch, and had many new households sign up for the Food Pantry, both to pick up onsite and for our rapidly growing delivery program.” She added, “With the help of our amazing volunteers and support staff, we spent the summer passing out produce, cooking up to 250 lunches per day, and in August alone, we delivered groceries to nearly 1,000 people.”
Ben-Ezra added, “Our efforts have been fueled by the generous donations we’ve received. With support from organization’s like Florence Bank, we’ll be able to expand our evening and weekend hours to facilitate access for low-wage workers returning to work. By year-end, we expect to serve 6,000 residents, a 50% increase from fiscal year 2019.”
Kevin Day, our President and CEO said, “We’re thrilled to support the Amherst Survival Center as they continue their important work and service the increased amount of food insecure people in need. They’ve done an outstanding job throughout the pandemic, and during the summer alone distributed more than 200,000 meals to community members. We’re proud to stand beside them and support their integral efforts to make sure we all have the food we need.”
Florence Bank is a community bank, which means it prioritizes its customers and the community. With no stockholders, Florence Bank can focus on the ideas and decisions that are good for customers, staff and those in the wider community.
Lev Ben-Ezra, Executive Director of the Amherst Survival Center said, “We had a very busy summer season. We’ve continued to see more and more people for lunch, and had many new households sign up for the Food Pantry, both to pick up onsite and for our rapidly growing delivery program.” She added, “With the help of our amazing volunteers and support staff, we spent the summer passing out produce, cooking up to 250 lunches per day, and in August alone, we delivered groceries to nearly 1,000 people.”