Price Rite Marketplace and Feed the Children, in partnership with Kraft Foods and YMCA of Central Massachusetts, organized the distribution event as part of the supermarket’s Feeding Minds & Bodies campaign to support Feed the Children’s mission.

Feed the Children is a national nonprofit focused on alleviating childhood and family hunger. Joe Allegro, senior director of corporate partnerships at Feed the Children, said that each eligible family received 25 pounds of food, 15 pounds of other essential items Tuesday and a case of water.

Allegro said the food included non-perishable items such as peanut butter, canned vegetables, pasta and cereals. Families were also given personal care items such as toilet paper, toothpaste and feminine products. Families also received a children’s book to help children with their reading and backpacks with school supplies like erasers, pencils and notebooks.

Personal care items not covered by SNAP benefits

Personal care items are not covered by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and families often cannot afford them, Allegro said.

“Low-income families are often enrolled in the SNAP program, the supplemental nutrition program that the federal government provides for them,” Allegro said. “Often, you can’t buy shaving cream, toothpaste, personal care items. So that has to come out of pocket for these families and they’re not supported or supplemented by the federal programs.”

Feed the Children will go to areas where Price Rite has a store and bring a semi-truck filled with food to distribute to families. Organizations such as the YMCA are also essential for finding families that need the food the most, Allegro said.

David Connell, CEO YMCA of Central Massachusetts

David Connell, CEO YMCA of Central Massachusetts, said the YMCA connected with 400 families in the organization’s database to reserve food and supplies for them. Connell said the target area for the organization is within a three-and-a-half mile radius of the Main South neighborhood, with some coming from other parts of the city.

“When you start thinking of it from a collective basis, you’re talking about $200 worth of food supplies and also regular additional supplies,” Connell said. “That means two weeks or more in savings for a family that would have had to utilize other services or other resources.”

Connell said the YMCA has been serving meals to the community for the past couple of years, especially last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agencies such as the YMCA, Worcester Public Schools and United Way of Central Massachusetts have been able to pool their information into a database that makes connecting with families easier, Connell said.

YMCA: Over 1 million meals in Worcester served over past year

The YMCA has served over 1 million meals in Worcester over the past year, Connell said.

“The need was there. Kids were out of school and working remotely. The need increased so we found a way to go and deliver the meals to the families versus them having to come to a location,” Connell said.

Price Rite provided funding, partnered with Kraft Foods and others

Price Rite provided funding for the food distribution and helped supplement food supply through both partnerships with vendors such as Kraft Foods and with their own product lines. Bill Devin, vice president of operations at Price Rite said about 25 Price Rite employees also volunteered to distribute food Tuesday. Devin said he considers the distribution an extension of the market retailer’s mission.

“Our mission is to provide affordable food to families in need. We always pride ourselves on having the best prices around because we understand that we’re trying to get everyone to stretch their dollar further,” Devin said.“Today’s event of giving back to the community is just another layer in that mission in terms of giving back to those in need who may not even have that dollar to spend.”

Price Rite has been organizing food distribution drives in their markets for 12 years, having partnered with Feed the Children for seven of those years. Devin said about 36,000 families have been fed through the campaign across the markets that Price Rite serves, and the campaign usually encompasses eight to 10 events a year.

Each family received a voucher for supplies in order to keep track of the distribution. The vouchers were timestamped for families to come at a specific time range Tuesday afternoon, Allegro said.

Pandemic worsens food insecurity; about 10% of Worcester’s population food insecure

The COVID-19 pandemic already made a precarious situation worse for many families who needed food assistance, Allegro said. He said about 10% of Worcester’s population is food insecure.

“These families have been hit the hardest, they were unemployed, or some were underemployed, to begin with. And when COVID hit, they became fully unemployed,” Allegro said. “They have to make hard decisions: Are they going to pay the rent? Are they going to pay the electric? Are they going to pay the heat? And sometimes food is the variable that they can move around a little bit.”

Maureen Binienda, superintendent of Worcester Public Schools

Maureen Binienda, superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, said Tuesday’s event is one of many programs that work to alleviate hunger among Worcester Public School students and families. She said that the school system also offers food pantries, grab-and-go meals for students that even go into the weekend and food trucks throughout the summer.

Binienda said she hoped people realized that the work to keep students and families fed continues after distribution events such as Tuesday’s.

“We do know that when this food is gone, hunger is still going to exist. So we have to try to solve this problem,” Binienda said.

Ongoing efforts in city to address hunger

Along with spreading community recognition of hunger in Worcester, Binienda also pointed to legislative efforts U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, has been championing to address hunger. Economic development and job opportunities are also important for addressing hunger in the city, Binienda said.

McGovern, who chairs the board of the Congressional Hunger Center, could not make Tuesday’s event, but Caitlin Hodgkins, policy director at McGovern’s office, read a letter from the congressman.

“We live in the richest country in the history of the world, yet no community is immune from hunger and food insecurity. Worcester is no exception,” McGovern’s said. “Feeding America estimates that 42 million of our fellow citizens may face hunger this year. While those numbers remain elevated as we emerge from a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of 600,000 of our fellow citizens and upended the lives of countless others, the sad reality is that we had a hunger problem long before this pandemic.”

In his letter, McGovern thanked the volunteers and organizers of Tuesday’s event and called for Congress to expand investments in SNAP, school meals, summer meals and tax credits for families. He also called for a White House conference on food, nutrition, hunger and health to work on a plan to end hunger by 2030.

Tim Garvin, president and CEO of United Way of Central Massachusetts

Tim Garvin, president and CEO of United Way of Central Massachusetts, called volunteers’ attention to children they could see at a nearby playground, saying they are among those who benefit from Tuesday’s event.

“Really, there’s one reason why we’re here. We saw them pass and they’re over in this little playground,” Garvin said. “That’s why we’re here. We want every one of those little children to go home well-fed, to have a great dinner, to wake up in the morning and be excited and happy to be able to play, to be able to learn.”