Salem Pantry

The Salem Pantry's (tsp) mission is to work collaboratively to empower our diverse local and regional communities by ensuring the essential right to convenient and reliable access to healthy food. Tsp was founded in 1991 by a group of community members with a simple purpose: to provide reliable access to food for Salem's economically disadvantaged through once-monthly food distribution. Until 2019, tsp provided a dependable, yet limited offering to the community. Tsp board leadership identified an unmet need in the community and embarked on a strategic growth strategy. Before the onset of covid-19, the board hired its first full-time executive director. When the pandemic reached ma in march 2020, tsp was already experiencing a surge in Pantry visits. Through generous funding from the greater boston food bank, brace cove foundation, and Massachusetts food security infrastructure grant program, tsp quickly built out a food storage warehouse and purchased two delivery vehicles to expand the mobile Pantry program. By 2021, the organization had grown to six staff members, an operating budget of 500,000, and served 4,000 unique Pantry guests weekly through its innovative farmer's market-style pop-up Pantry model. A three- year grant from the cummings foundation in may of 2021 provided tsp's first multi-year grant receivable at a key moment of organizational growth. Throughout the transformative period spanning 2020 to 2023, tsp managed an unprecedented surge, witnessing a fourfold increase in the utilization of its services by community members. This remarkable growth was made possible through strategic partnerships and generous contributions from esteemed funders such as the amelia peabody foundation, ludcke family foundation and the boston foundation, and the unwavering support of elected officials u.s. Congressman, seth moulton, state rep. manny cruz, state senator joan lovely and the office of Salem mayor, and now current lt. Governor, kim driscoll. Recognizing the vital role tsp plays in addressing food insecurity, these dedicated funders demonstrated their commitment by investing significantly in tsp's mission. Their advocacy and financial support extended across capital investments, operational enhancements, and crucial funding from the american rescue plan act (arpa). This multifaceted approach allowed tsp to not only establish a brick-and-mortar location called the market, a pivotal community resource, but also elevate the impact of its mobile Pantry program. A testament to this commitment is the acquisition of a state-of-the-art mobile Pantry, the truck, a strategic initiative designed to expand tsp's mobile distribution capacity. This innovative addition has empowered tsp to reach even more individuals in need, ensuring a broader and more effective response to the challenges of food insecurity. Through collaborative efforts and strategic investments, tsp has not only met the growing demand but has also positioned itself as a beacon of support, resilience, and positive change throughout this impactful period. With new resources, programs, and staff in place, tsp currently provides reliable access to food for over 20,000 community members in Salem and the greater north shore. The Salem Pantry has been selected as the 2024 partner of the year award by the greater boston food bank. Today, tsp's programs include: 1. The market opened in april 2023 and serves as the home base for food Pantry services. Open five days per week with morning, evening, and weekend hours, the market is home to 60% of the Salem Pantry's programming. The market prioritizes fresh produce, eggs, dairy, proteins, dry goods, and bread. 2. The mobile Pantry program operates at 12 mobile distribution sites each week. Distributions take place at affordable housing complexes, the council on aging, primary care offices, schools, and universities. In 2023, tsp introduced the truck, a mobile Pantry on wheels equipped with refrigerated storage and a custom, market-style design with items needed for the mobile distribution program. The truck has streamlined the mobile distribution program, making it easier for tsp to provide the program throughout the community. 3. The home delivery program started in 2020 to provide Pantry services to people quarantining during the covid-19 pandemic. As restrictions were lifted and fewer people were quarantined, the home delivery program shifted to address the needs of our community's most vulnerable, homebound individuals, who cannot leave their homes to access other Pantry programming. 4. The regional food storage and distribution hub started in 2020 to help assist the greater boston food bank provide food to the north shore by intaking, storing, and distributing an additional 85,000 pounds of food to 20 different regional food security organizations each month. This program has been beneficial to all partners saving time, money, and increasing access to food across the north shore. Additionally, tsp partners with community health organizations and nutrition consultants on a food is medicine program, which aims to provide tailored food options for a vulnerable population to manage, treat, or decrease chronic health conditions. As tsp continues to expand its program and reach, the organization's three-year goals and guiding principles lead the organization's direction. Tsp's three-year strategic goals: 1. Design, implement, and sustain inclusive services that are available to all local and regional neighbors 2. Focus on health and wellness and prioritize equitable access to food that is nutritious, sensitive to diet, and culturally aligned 3. Build and strengthen strategic partnerships to meet both the urgent and chronic need for food 4. Increase community awareness and advocate for political and financial support for food security in Salem and the greater north shore. Tsp's guiding principles: 1. We believe that our services should be available to all who need them and will work to make sure that those in need, as well as the broader community, see us as an abundant and reliable source of healthy food. 2. We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to nutritious food and that healthy diets promote physical, mental, and social well-being. 3. We believe that the food and services we offer should reflect our community's cultural, ethnic and socio-economic diversity, including its diverse health and culinary needs; and we commit that this diversity will also be reflected in our staff, volunteers, and board. 4. We believe that for our community and region to be more food secure, we need to actively work with local farmers, food producers, and food distributors. 5. We believe that partnerships are essential to fulfilling our mission and that we become stronger by innovating and collaborating with other organizations to better address local and regional food security needs. 6. We believe we need to be data-driven and continually evolve our understanding of hunger and food insecurity in order to provide effective programming and services for our community, build community awareness and support, engage in advocacy, and strengthen partnerships. 7. We believe that in order for us to be a sustainable organization and entrusted with community resources, we must be committed to transparency and fiscal responsibility. 8. We believe that food is central to culture and community and that growing, preparing, and sharing food together strengthens community bonds. 9. We believe that the root causes of inequity must be addressed in order to eliminate hunger in our society and that addressing and removing fundamental inequities and injustices will reduce food insecurity and other related suffering.