NH Food Bank 2016 'Nothing' Campaign is Underway

LONDONDERRY, NH - The New Hampshire Food Bank kicked off its 2016 "Nothing" Campaign to fight hunger in the Granite State on April 14, 2016, at the Market Basket in Londonderry with the help of Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter.

Through the month of May, 69 groceries around the state, including all New Hampshire Hannaford, Harvest Market, and Market Basket locations, as well as Sully’s Superette in Goffstown and Allenstown, and Vista Foods in Laconia, will be selling $5 Nothing cans.

Supporters of the food bank are encouraged to buy the cans, fill them full of donations, and then return them to the NH Food Bank, so the org can buy meals for the hungry.

“At a time when the need continues to grow all across the state, the New Hampshire Food Bank is incredibly grateful for this support from Citizens Bank, Governor Hassan, business leaders and our supporters,” said Mel Gosselin, executive director of the NH Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities NH, in a statement. “In this year’s Nothing Campaign, we are urging New Hampshire residents and businesses to be a part of the solution. For every $1 donated to the NH Food Bank, we produce two nutritious meals for food pantries all over the state.”

Hassan added, “The Nothing Campaign represents the all-hands-on-deck spirit of our people, bringing businesses, nonprofits and individuals together to ensure that none of New Hampshire’s residents have to choose between buying food or paying for other critical life expenses.”

Gosslin stated that the NH Food Bank was working "tirelessly" to make sure soup kitchens and food pantries are receiving the resources they need to reach the 1 in 9 people in New Hampshire who are food insecure, “but the demand is relentless.” She noted that the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry had received 541,716 lbs. of food from the NH Food Bank this year, a 108 percent increase from last year; in Exeter, Saint Vincent DePaul has experienced a 67 percent increase this year, and has already received 221,025 lbs. of food so far in 2016.

More than $347,000 has been raised via the Nothing Campaign since 2013, which funded more than 694,000 meals. The NH Food Bank has distributed about 11 million lbs. of food across the state in 2014, a 30 percent increase when compared to 2013. The org expects this year to need about 12 million lbs. of food, according to a statement.

Visit nhfoodbank.org/nothing. for more information about the effort.

Captions: Mel Gosselin, executive director of the NH Food Bank, speaks at a press conference kicking off this year’s Nothing Campaign, along with Gov. Maggie Hassan, Thomas Blonski, president and CEO of Catholic Charities NH, and Joe Carelli, president of Citizens Bank, New Hampshire and Vermont. Hassan, Blonski, Carelli, and Gosselin were also pictured unloading cans for the event.