One big lesson for me from the pandemic has been to pay keen attention to the importance of agencies, organizations, individuals, and the government sector to come together in partnership when trying to solve the big problems. We are blessed in Greater Nashua to have an abundance of amazing organizations, but to really be effective when the going gets tough it is critical for all of us to work together. In the nonprofit world, there is a wonky term for this: Collective Impact. In the business world they might say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Some folks might say “it takes a village.” At United Way, we would say that Great Things Happen When We LIVE UNITED. As for me, let us just say that we can get a lot more done when we work together than when we try to go it alone.

A very big, serious, and complex issue is food security. Remarkably, estimates are that as many as one in six Americans today are food insecure, meaning that they do not know where their next meal is coming from. This includes an estimated 13 million children. Beyond that, as recently as 2019, more than 35 million people in the United States experienced actual hunger. Our country (including our little corner of the country) is quite literally awash in food. In fact, according to the USDA, we throw away a pound of food per person PER DAY in this country. Over 100 billion pounds of food per year. So, if the demand is there, and the supply is there, the remaining question is how do we get the food into the hands – and mouths and bellies – of the people who are hungry?

My point in this article this month is not to give the big answer to that question. Rather, I will try to shed light on some local efforts in the hopes that you might have ideas about getting involved and fighting food insecurity locally. To do that, I am going to highlight several initiatives, and describe how collaboration is paving the way in our community. These are: 1) Mobile/Pop Up food pantries; 2) Urban Farming; and 3) the Food Council.

One super collaborative effort over the past 18 months has been the development of our community mobile pop-up food pantries. Most of you are probably familiar with fixed location food pantries like the Salvation Army or Nashua Soup Kitchen. Those pantries are critical resources for the community which are in place year-round and provide a lifeline for their clients. The big downside, however, is that they are not necessarily where the people live, so transportation can become a barrier to accessing these resources. When the pandemic started, we began working with several organizations, including the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Nashua Soup Kitchen to develop locations out in the community where food could be made available periodically throughout the week. This program has been so successful that we currently have 10 different locations, 2 per day, where for a few hours people can simply walk up and a United Way volunteer will provide the individual with food, which has been sourced from the Soup Kitchen and brought to the location by one of the other two agencies mentioned. This program is almost entirely based on partnership and volunteerism, and to-date has been responsible for connecting almost 10,000 individuals to critical food resources. The locations have been specially chosen because they are in what we would call “food deserts.” These are places where food resources, including pantries and markets, are scarce. For example, Marguerite’s Place and Ledge Street School are two of the locations. If you know either of these neighborhoods, you will quickly realize the value of something within walking distance.

An important aspect of these mobile pantries is that throughout the pandemic our volunteers have also used them to distribute other supplies, like hand sanitizer and face masks, as well as information like 211 cards or flyers for programs like the rental relief funds managed by Southern NH Services. That way, people are coming for food, but are leaving equipped with information and resources to help them get onto solid footing. I could go on and on about this program because it has been so successful, but you probably get the picture. If you are looking for an idea of where and when these pantries operate, this can be found on our Facebook page.

The second program I would like to mention briefly is what I like to call “urban farming.” Of course, you have all heard of community gardening. We have had community gardens for many years. These are small spaces which are a great way to grow some food or herbs and supplement your diet. However, community gardening was never intended to become a primary source of food, more of a supplement. On the other hand, you might have noticed the larger scale initiatives launched by our partner Grow Nashua as well as Regenerative Roots Association which are much larger, and are worked on by local resident farmers. Examples of these can be found on Spring Street just across from the Post Office or on the grounds of Dr. Crisp Elementary School. Each of these spaces is designed with robust capabilities for irrigation and has been adopted for cultivation by local people, creating access to healthy produce during the growing season. A new project is being planned this year on land between Ledge Street Elementary and Davidson Landing Apartments and will be developed this fall in part as a United Way Day of Caring with Grow Nashua. For us, one exciting aspect of this project is that it will be a way to connect the school with the residents of Davidson Landing and for the first time, it is also being designed as an accessible farm, meaning that people with wheelchairs, walkers, or with other disabilities will easily be able to participate in the farming due to its intentional design. The idea of building community urban farms is one which we are very enthusiastic about because of the philosophy that if you give a person a fish, they will eat for a day, but if you give them a fishing pole, they can eat for a lifetime. Such is the urban farm.

The final program I would like to touch upon is more of a collaboration rather than a project. It is known as the Greater Nashua Food Council. Started a few years ago, the Food Council is a loose affiliation of about 30 different agencies aligned around the creation of a food system which is effective and sustainable. It includes organizations like the ones already mentioned but also includes the hospitals as well as other agencies like the Hillsborough County Gleaners (which works with local farmers to ensure that excess produce ends up in our pantries) and End 68 Hours of Hunger (which focuses on childhood hunger over the weekend when kids are not in school to receive nutrition). All of us working together help to ensure that our community is leveraging each other’s skills and capabilities without creating programs which are duplicative or redundant. One exciting food council project has been the creation of a mobile app which is available on the Apple App Store or on Google Play. It contains local resources about where food can be found, how to volunteer, local events, and even how to budget for healthy eating. The app was developed with support and funding from United Way, Southern New Hampshire Health, Rivier University, Nashua Public Health, and the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation to serve the community. Much more information about this important initiative can be found on the Food Council’s website.

There is more which could be said about food security initiatives in our community, such as the new Little Free Pantry which is being launched this month as well as the Meals Matter initiative which is operating in our public schools. Also, we could talk about the public / nonprofit partnerships being forged between the school district and local community organizations to redeploy surplus foods. But alas, I am out of space. What I can say is simply that there is a lot going on, and much of it has been highly effective, and that is a direct result of our partnerships and collective impact approach, because GREAT THINGS REALLY DO HAPPEN WHEN WE LIVE UNITED!

Mike Apfelberg is president of United Way of Greater Nashua.

Newsletter