Putting food on the table is getting harder for a growing number of Worcester County residents. And for the organizations trying to help them, getting enough food onto pantry shelves—and getting it to the people who need it—is becoming a challenge of its own.
Nearly $500,000 is being directed toward those problems this year through Greater Worcester Community Foundation, including a record $229,000 distributed to local organizations through the Worcester County Food Bank Fund to End Hunger and another $250,000 for an effort to improve food transportation and distribution across North Central Massachusetts.
The money comes as food pantries and meal programs throughout the county report increasing demand and household budgets remain squeezed by the cost of food, housing and other necessities.
About 83,300 Worcester County residents live in poverty, according to Worcester County Insights, while nearly one-third of households spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Nearly 29,000 households do not have access to a vehicle — a complication that can make reaching a grocery store or food pantry difficult even when assistance is available.
“Food insecurity continues to affect families in every corner of Worcester County,” Greater Worcester Community Foundation President and CEO Pete Dunn said in the announcement. “This year, we heard from more organizations than ever before seeking support for food access initiatives.”
The Fund to End Hunger received its highest number of applications to date this year, according to the foundation.
Established and funded by Worcester County Food Bank and administered by the community foundation, the fund was expanded this year with an anonymous gift that doubled the size of the program.
That allowed $229,000 to be awarded to 42 organizations, the largest annual distribution in the fund’s history. The money supports programs ranging from traditional food pantries and meal deliveries to community refrigerators, gardens, school food programs and food rescue efforts.
Among the recipients is El Buen Samaritano Food Program, which received $20,000 — the largest single grant in the fund’s history — to help launch a food pantry on Lincoln Street in Worcester. The organization also operates a pantry on Piedmont Street.
“The Lincoln Square corridor and surrounding neighborhoods have been heavily impacted by rising living costs, recent supermarket closures and limited access to affordable, healthy food,” Executive Director Mari Gonzalez said in the announcement.
El Buen Samaritano reported serving 10,625 first-time visitors at its Piedmont Street location in 2025. Gonzalez said many of those seeking help face transportation problems, mobility limitations or unstable housing.
“Many residents are struggling to keep up with rent, leaving little remaining income for groceries,” she said.
The Lincoln Street pantry is now open weekly throughout the year.
This year’s additional funding also allowed the Fund to End Hunger to experiment with two-year grants, an effort intended to give nonprofits more predictable funding rather than requiring them to start from scratch each year.
The Boys & Girls Club of Worcester received a two-year, $20,000 grant for its Fueling Futures Through Food and Opportunity program, which combines free meals and food pantry services with workforce development. The Boys & Girls Club of Webster-Dudley received $6,000 for an initiative providing meals and snacks to teens participating in evening programs, and Quinsigamond Village Community Center received $6,000 for food pantry storage and distribution.
“Organizations addressing hunger need stability and predictability just as much as the families they serve,” Worcester County Food Bank CEO Seana Weaver said in the announcement.
But having food available is only part of the equation.
Greater Worcester Community Foundation is also putting $250,000 toward a North County Regional Food Transportation System, an initiative being led by United Way of North Central Massachusetts.
Awarded earlier this year through the foundation’s 50th Anniversary Impact Grants program, the money will support development of a coordinated system for collecting, transporting and distributing food among pantries in North Central Massachusetts.
For smaller food programs in particular, moving large quantities of donated food, finding adequate storage and maintaining refrigerated capacity can present significant hurdles.
“Many food pantries are facing the same challenge: they have limited capacity to transport, store and distribute food efficiently,” United Way of North Central Massachusetts President and CEO Kory Eng said in the announcement.
The initiative will explore whether a regional approach can help pantries share transportation and distribution resources and get food to communities more efficiently.
Weaver put the challenge in more concrete terms.
“Food access is about people, and it’s also about logistics,” she said. “Trucks, cold storage and shared routes are what turn a donated pallet of food into a meal on someone’s table in Leominster or Gardner.”
The latest spending follows nearly $500,000 the foundation distributed last year through the basic needs focus area of its community grants program, which includes both food security and housing.
The foundation said its 2026 Community Grants will be announced later this year.
Have a story tip, community concern, or insight to share? Email Editor Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org.
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