This is a very exciting week for us at United Way, as we passed the 10,000 mark for people who have been able to gain access to healthy produce and protein as part of our Mobile / Pop-Up Pantry Collaborative Program! This program, which was the brainchild of my friend Michael Reinke from the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, has been operating throughout the pandemic since April 7th, 2020, and is a project supported by a variety of partners, including the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua, the YMCA of Greater Nashua, the Greater Nashua Food Council, and the United Way of Greater Nashua. In coming up with the idea, Michael Reinke said, “Mobile pantries are critical to ensure everyone has access to the food resources they need regardless of issues of financial capacity or ability to access transportation.” Really and truly, this is a shining example of the type of great work we can do when we come together and rally around a cause. According to Food Council Director Meghan Bolton, “This effort has provided more equitable access to fresh produce and shown the impact of collaboration in neighborhoods that benefit most!”

The whole idea of a pop-up pantry is to try and bring the food resources out into the community. This is very helpful for people who cannot access traditional food pantries because of either timing or transportation issues. It is not a replacement for those resources, which remain incredibly important, but is meant to supplement those in a very community-centric fashion. Each pop-up pantry is in a location which we would call a “food desert.” That means that the area does not have any good food resources nearby, neither a pantry nor another market. For homebound or transportation limited individuals, this is very important. According to YMCA CEO Michael LaChance, “The YMCA of Greater Nashua is honored to be able to partner with these other great organizations to address food insecurity in the city and assist so many families with their basic needs.”

So, here is how it works: Each day of the week at around 10 am, volunteer drivers from the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA meet up over at the Soup Kitchen, which has been busy readying food to go out to the Community Sites, of which there are now 11 operating, 2 per day, and 3 on Friday. The driver/volunteers then take the food out to the locations where the pop-ups are running that day. The Boys and Girls Club have been very enthusiastic supporters of this part of the program, with their Executive Director, Craig Fitzgerald, stating, “We are so happy to have been a part of this important initiative. Access to nutritional meals is an essential need.” Once at the location, which is typically open to the public 11 to 12:30, depending on the site, members of the public can simply come and get whatever is available. There is no need to sign up, provide any kind of documentation, etc. The approach is to be 100% barrier-free as a food access point. United Way Volunteers simply hand out what they have to the community. This type of volunteering, which has involved many dozens of volunteers, has been very gratifying. According to one of our great volunteers, Doris Horvath, “Volunteering at the Pop Ups has been so rewarding. It is wonderful to get to see familiar faces collecting food for their families. It’s the grandmother that says she is having her grandchildren for dinner and will make a nice fruit salad. It’s the mother that’s so appreciative and thankful for whatever we can provide.” And according to another one of our great volunteers, Janice Dumont, “I love meeting and getting to know our clients and helping to provide fresh produce since April of 2020. I’ve met young parents with children, struggling unemployed and employed people, retirees, and neighbors helping neighbors. They are so grateful and friendly to us volunteers. Many have given back to us by unloading the boxes from the cars of those who bring the food to our sites. Others have provided bags, scarves, water, and non-perishables to us and the other clients. I am thankful for all who make each pop-up pantry happen: grocery store workers, those who gather donations, volunteers that use their own vehicles to transport the food to our distribution sites, and those at United Way who coordinate us all.” Once the shift is over, any left-over foods are brought back to the Soup Kitchen by the volunteers, so there is also little or no waste.

Coming into the summer, we are adding an 11th location, near the Centennial Pool. The program also ran all winter long in 3 indoor locations. We plan to run the program – serving who knows how many more thousands of our residents — at least until the fall, and hope that you might consider joining the effort, which has been an extraordinary example of a group of agencies and volunteers coming together and acting in unison to ensure that GREAT THINGS continue to happen when we LIVE UNITED!

Mike Apfelberg is president of United Way of Greater Nashua.