Greater Boston Food Bank
 |
|
| Founded | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Kip Tiernan |
| Focus | Hunger relief |
| Location | |
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Area served
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Eastern Massachusetts |
|
Key people
|
Catherine D'Amato (CEO) |
| Slogan | Hunger hurts. We can help. |
| Website | http://www.gbfb.org |
The Greater Boston Food Bank, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization that serves more than 394,000 people each year through a network of nearly 600 member hunger-relief agencies throughout eastern Massachusetts. The Food Bank’s current President and CEO is Catherine D'Amato.[1] The Greater Boston Food Bank is a member organization of Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest.
Mission
To end hunger in eastern Massachusetts.
Services
The Greater Boston Food Bank provides hunger relief to an estimated 394,300 people annually, according to "Hunger in Eastern Massachusetts 2010", a study that was part of a national initiative spearheaded by Feeding America – The Nation’s Food Bank Network with research conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc..[2] According to "Hunger in Eastern Massachusetts 2010", a third of all households served by The Greater Boston Food Bank have at least one adult working in their household, and 80% of the households live below the federal poverty line. About a third (125,000) of the members of the households have children under the age of 18, and approximately 15% of clients at program sites served by The Greater Food Bank are age 65 and older.
History
The Boston Food Bank was founded by Kip Tiernan and legally incorporated in 1981. It was originally located at 71 Amory Street in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston and moved to 99 Atkinson Street in the Newmarket section of Boston in 1992. The Boston Food Bank officially changed its name to The Greater Boston Food Bank in 1993.
The Greater Boston Food Bank broke ground in 2007 at the 2.8-acre (11,000 m2) site of a new facility at 70 South Bay Ave (the former home of the South Bay Incinerator), across the street from the organization’s previous location. The facility was completed in March 2009. The 117,000-square-foot (10,900 m2) facility, named the Yawkey Distribution Center of The Greater Boston Food Bank will enable The Greater Boston Food Bank to increase its distribution to eventually accommodate 50 million pounds of food and grocery products.[3]
