SHREWSBURY, Mass. — Normally, this time of year, the Worcester County Food Bank’s freezer is stocked with turkeys. But for the first time in its 42-year history, the Bank, one of four in the Commonwealth, has instead distributed more than 8,000 supermarket gift certificates.
“Some food pantry partners don’t have storage capacity,” said Food Bank CEO Jean McMurray. “Some clients don’t like turkey. And by not distributing frozen turkeys that frees-up space in our cooler and freezer.”
The food bank stocked that extra space with seasonal vegetables, including squash, yams and cranberries. But none of those items remained in the cooler for very long. McMurray said it’s gotten to the point that no sooner does food come in, than it goes out.
“Overall, we’ve seen an increase in need of 29% more people this year than last year,” she said -- an increase the Food Bank can’t fully cover. As it is, the facility distributes food sufficient for thousands of families every day.
Not only is the need growing, but the demographic requiring assistance is changing, too. McMurray said even prosperous communities, such as Westborough, have hungry people -- some of them long-time residents barely scraping by.
“Their (property) taxes could be increasing, they live on a fixed income if they’re retired,” she said. “They’re struggling. These people are our neighbors. They might live next door, around the corner. They could even be members of our own families.”
And they’re often ashamed and reluctant to turn to a food pantry for help. McMurray said she’s spoken to clients in tears who expressed they never thought they would be in such a position.
On the cold, rainy Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Jeremiah’s Inn, a food pantry in Worcester, has run into a problem. Like all pantries in the area, it is supplied by the Food Bank -- but that supply is not infinite.
“I had to close early today,” said Erin ‘Birdie’ Quaiel, nutrition center coordinator. “I had to close four hours early. I’m seeing people not just from Worcester, but all over Worcester County.”
The reason for the early closure: pantry shelves that are virtually bare -- save for some canned peas and canned pumpkin.
“It’s to the point where there’s just not enough capacity and not enough money and not enough food out in the system,” Quaiel said. “We’re all getting really desperate right now. And our community is desperate.”
Quaiel said the number of families seeking food assistance at Jeremiah’s Inn has increased threefold since the fall of 2023, to 1,300. In the time she’s been working there, Quaiel said produce distribution has increased 527%.
“And as you can see, I have nothing to offer for produce today,” she said. “That’s just how desperate the need is.”
As Quaiel spoke, would-be clients knocked on the locked door. Even though the pantry was closed, she answered.
“It’s really hard to have to look mothers in the face who are trying to feed their kids and tell them sorry, I don’t have anything to offer you -- you have to go somewhere else,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
But is hunger in Massachusetts inevitable? Some statistics suggest that may be the case -- especially the impossible cost of housing. But McMurray believes it’s a problem that can be fixed using a systemic approach. Massachusetts took one step in that direction by raising the minimum wage, she said.
McMurray is also enthusiastic about a new, multi-agency partnership to end hunger in the state called Make Hunger History (makehungerhistoryma.org). It brings together more than 350 organizations committed to solving food insecurity.
“We do believe hunger is a solvable problem here in Massachusetts,” she said. “We’re not saying it’s easy. But it’s solvable.”
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