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Greater Plymouth Food Resources Group |
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Plymouth Food Warehouse
While donations are accepted each Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon, the warehouse also holds four major, townwide collection days each year, on the first Saturday in March, June, September and December.
A client Needs Assessment conducted by SSCAC in the spring of 2002 found that 67% said they "sometimes" or "always" have trouble affording food for their families, while 29% said they get food from a pantry or other meals program.
In the fall of 2002, SSCAC formed the Greater Plymouth Food Resources Group, a network of more than 20 food assistance programs.
GPFRG's ultimate goal is to get more nutritious food to more hungry people in a more cost-effective way through coordinated food pick-up, transport, storage and distribution. A shared, dedicated warehouse (the “Central Warehouse”) provides GPFRG member food assistance programs the opportunity to safely store dry product as well as frozen foods, fresh produce, dairy and other perishable foods.
Since GPFRG formed, we have recruited food assistance programs in 10 South Shore cities and towns that “shop” for food at the Central Warehouse, then distribute to people residing in a 22-town area. All food and non-food items we distribute are free of charge. We have created a “shopping floor model” warehouse with food sorted onto shelves according to USDA Food Guide Pyramid categories, which helps us monitor the nutrient content of the product we receive and distribute to food assistance programs.
Since opening the Central Warehouse in the Plymouth Industrial Park in autumn, 2003, we have solicited via donations and then distributed more than 150,000 pounds of product, translating into roughly 115,000 meals. Additionally, through shared trucking, we have helped our larger member pantries transport approximately 160,000 pounds of product from the Greater Boston Food Bank, to then distribute to their clients throughout the Greater Plymouth area.
Besides reaching out to traditional emergency food programs, we are developing innovative relationships with groups that serve primarily children and the elderly. Each month, Central Warehouse volunteers work with the SSCAC transportation department to distribute pre-packaged bags of nutritionally-balance groceries to families whose children are enrolled in 3 SSCAC Head Start programs in Plymouth, Kingston and Marshfield. We also distribute nutritionally balanced bags to homebound, low-income seniors monthly via the Kingston, Carver and Plymouth Councils on Aging. And we provide food to SSCAC’s Fuel Assistance department, for distribution to clients forced to make unconscionable trade-offs between heating their homes and feeding their families.
Responding to growing demand for emergency food assistance, GPFRG’s services continue to expand. Comparing our Fiscal Year 2006 Central Warehouse and shared trucking activity to Fiscal Year 2005:
- We increased both food donations to the warehouse and food distribution from the warehouse by 33%.
- We increased the number of volunteer hours at the warehouse by 28%.
- We increased the number of pounds transported from the Greater Boston Food Bank to our 3 largest member pantries by 33%.
- We increased the size of our warehouse space by 30%.
In addition to food storage and distribution, GPFRG is involved in other initiatives designed to reduce food insecurity throughout our service area.
For example, we conduct research on food insecurity throughout Greater Plymouth, and disseminate the results to key constituents;
collaborate with Project Bread to connect more seniors to Food Stamps, including eligibility requirements and application information; and
disseminate appropriate nutrition and food safety literature to SSCAC’s elderly Fuel Assistance recipients.
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