Beverly Bootstraps Installs 'Food Lockers' As New Tool To Fight Hunger

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly Bootstraps is looking to fight hunger on the North Shore in a new way that allows those in need to access food in a more convenient and discreet manner.

The community nonprofit has purchased and installed several Automated Refrigerated Food Lockers around Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Manchester and Wenham that allow residents to place an order online and then pick it up when it is easiest for them.

"I'm most excited by the 24/7 access in this model," Beverly Bootstraps Executive Director Sue Gabriel said. "People need to work, care for children, elderly parents, or others in their families, making it hard to find time to come to the food pantry to get groceries.

"They might be a student and have a heavy class schedule or have transportation issues or might just find it embarrassing to come to the food pantry. For so many reasons, people might not be best served through our existing food delivery options. This model provides amazing access and is dignified and private."

The self-service lockers are temperature controlled so they can be used to deliver both perishable and non-perishable food items.

The way the food lockers work is that those in need place an order through the nonprofit's SmartChoice system, and then receive a text message and email that the orders have been filled with a one-time code that allows them to access the food locker comfortably and privately without having to come into the food pantry.

"The food lockers do not need to be constantly monitored, " Food Assistance Supervisor Beth Bahret said. "We don't have to connect with the person directly. All of this allows us to use our
labor in an efficient and streamlined manner."

Beverly Bootstraps has seen monthly pantry visits reach an all-time high since the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis and with the effects of recent inflation.

The most recent Greater Boston Food Bank "Closing the Meal Gap" study estimates that more than 6,000 individuals living in Beverly, Wenham, Hamilton, Essex, and Manchester are currently experiencing food insecurity.

The expectation is that these self-service lockers will help bring that number down, through the convenient and private alternative to a traditional food pantry.

"It's been almost a year in the planning process of talking with funders and procuring the lockers from Bell and Howell, " said Director of Development and External Affairs Chris Nazareth, who proposed the idea of the food lockers in December 2021. "I'm excited to finally see this innovative approach to addressing food insecurity."

Funding for the program came from the Greater Boston Food Bank's Community Investment Grant program and private donations.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)