As more and more families turn to The Salem Pantry for support, a record-breaking 9,000 visits in May 2024, we also experienced and exciting month filled with recognition, funding opportunities, and collaborative successes.
The Truck Kick-Off Event
We started the month with the official launch of The Truck, our new mobile pantry vehicle. Although The Truck arrived late last year, this event marked our first chance to celebrate this new addition to our mobile pantry program.
Hosted by our partners at The City of Salem’s Council on Aging, the event brought together local officials including keynote speaker Mayor Dominick Pangallo, and community partners to celebrate The Truck’s availability at all mobile pantry sites throughout the city this spring and summer. The event highlighted the power of collaboration, highlighting The City of Salem’s crucial role in making The Truck a reality and the important role our distribution partners play alongside The Truck to bring food directly into our community.
2024 Greater Boston Food Bank Community Partner of the Year
On May 16th, Executive Director Robyn Burns, Food Acquisition and Distribution Manager Fred Norton, and Market Manager Jeremiah Brown traveled to Boston to receive this exciting award from The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB).
Selected from 600 partner agencies, The Salem Pantry was honored as the 2024 Community Partner of the Year. This recognition, awarded for our work in opening The Market and our partnership with GBFB to support other local partners’ food acquisition, is a testament to our commitment to providing food to our community. We are deeply honored to receive this award and remain dedicated to finding innovative ways to ensure convenient access to food for our neighbors.
We Received a Cummings Grant!
As May drew to a close, we received thrilling news: The Salem Pantry was selected as one of 150 local non-profits to share in $30 million through The Cummings Foundation’s annual grant program.
Out of 715 applicants, we were among the 25 organizations chosen to receive funding over ten years, totaling $750,000. This substantial grant will support the long-term stability of our organization, allowing us to continue innovating and increasing food access. We are beyond grateful to The Cummings Foundation for their support and are honored to be recognized by such a renowned philanthropic organization.
May gave us a chance to reflect on and celebrate our impact in our community daily, but there is still so much work to do.
The support and recognition we received fuel our motivation to do even more. We look forward to what is to come!