​NH Food Bank Nets $1M Anonymous Donation

MANCHESTER, NH — The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, recently received an anonymous $1 million donation with the donor’s desire to make an impact on hunger throughout the state, according to a press statement. Eighty percent or $800,000 of this gift will not stay at the Food Bank — it will be directed to the New Hampshire Food Bank’s 430 partner agencies to help reduce costs.

These partner agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, afterschool programs, senior centers and other nonprofit feeding programs located in communities throughout New Hampshire. The donor and the New Hampshire Food Bank chose to provide financial assistance to Food Bank partner agencies through a reduction of the shared maintenance fee by 50 percent over the course of four years.

This positive impact on partner agency budgets’ statewide will allow them to acquire more food for their clients and to potentially increase their capacities, such as purchasing freezers, refrigerators, scales and vehicles.

“The New Hampshire Food Bank is incredibly grateful for this generous donation,” said Eileen Liponis, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank. “With one in nine people in this state not knowing where their next meal is coming from, and one in five of them being children, this critical funding will make a tremendous difference in our ongoing fight to eliminate hunger in New Hampshire. We believe this donation creates a strong starting point for investing in the health and future of those served by the New Hampshire Food Bank through our partner agencies.”

As part of the donation, the donor designated $100,000 as unrestricted funds to be used to further the programs of the New Hampshire Food Bank at its own discretion.

In addition, the donor has designated $70,000 to support the New Hampshire Food Bank’s Culinary Job Training program, which teaches unemployed or underemployed adults the culinary skills necessary to seek employment in the food service industry.

Finally, the donor has designated $30,000 to support six Mobile Food Pantries during 2017, including a mobile food pantry to be held in Colebrook with a portion of the food distribution going to Pittsburg on Feb. 4, 2017.

The need is on the rise in New Hampshire. During 2016, the NH Food Bank distributed just shy of 13 million pounds of food to its partner agencies statewide, marking a 61-percent increase over the past five years.

For more information and to donate, visit www.nhfoodbank.org.

Submitted by Nancy Mellitt.