Funds to help provide food for people struggling with finances due to COVID-19

FLORENCE—Florence Bank has donated $50,000 to the Community Food Distribution Project (CFDP) created jointly by the Northampton Survival Center and Grow Food Northampton to help fund emergency food distribution for area residents who are experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The new collaborative makes food staples available through on-site distributions three days a week at Northampton’s Jackson Street School and through delivery and pick-up two days a week at 11 local sites. Food is available at all locations to area residents, even if they did not need help accessing food in the past. 

The donation from the bank is one of the largest received to date by the CFDP; the effort also received $25,000 in Community Development Block Grant emergency funds from the city of Northampton, $30,000 from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and funds from individual donors. 

“We are pleased to be able to contribute to these worthy organizations that meet the needs of our most vulnerable community members during this time of crisis,” said Florence Bank President Kevin R. Day. “The Community Food Distribution Project was easy to get behind. It’s a grassroots effort created and supported by our local community to help those most in need.” 

Grow Food Northampton and the Northampton Survival Center established the food collaborative in partnership with Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, the city of Northampton, and Northampton Public Schools. 

As the primary partners, Grow Food Northampton and Northampton Survival Center will share the bank’s $50,000 donation equally to provide locally-grown, organic produce, non-perishable foods such as canned goods and pasta, as well as fresh meats and dairy.

Heidi Nortonsmith, executive director of the Northampton Survival Center said, “Despite needing to close its building temporarily, The Survival Center was able to reproduce a fully-functional staging and distribution site at Jackson Street School, generously lent to us by the city of Northampton. Grow Food Northampton brings its expertise in mobile food distribution to the project and Community Action brings its experience and expertise in relocating a food pantry site.” 

Grow Food Northampton partnered with Local Roots Care, led by Northampton residents Dr. Martin Wohl and Marisa Labozzetta, to purchase fresh produce and other farm products directly from local farmers. These locally-sourced products are included in every bag and box of food that is distributed or delivered through the project.

Farmers taking part so far are Apex Orchards of Shelburne Falls, Hart Farm of Conway, Red Fire Farm of Granby, and Joe Czajkowski & Lakeside Organics of Hadley LLC. 

Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton said, “This project not only feeds our neighbors in need, but also provides local farmers with a way to stay afloat during this time in which their usual markets, such as local restaurants and farmers’ markets, have by and large closed.” 

Grow Food Northampton is providing doorstep delivery and pick-up to 11 locations on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. On Tuesdays, they provide deliveries to Hampshire Heights, Florence Heights, Meadowbrook, Pioneer Valley Workers Center, and The Lumber Yard. 

On Thursdays, they provide deliveries to Northampton Housing Authority locations, including Salvo and McDonald houses; Forsander, Cahill, and Tobin Manor apartments; and most recently, to Michael’s House. 

Northampton Survival Center’s distribution site at Jackson Street School is open every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from noon to 3 p.m. 

To learn more or donate to the Community Food Distribution Project, visit https://www.florencebank.com/standingtogether.

Florence Bank has branches in Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton, Granby, Hadley, Northampton, Williamsburg, West Springfield, and Springfield, and it is headquartered in Florence. 

Florence Bank is a mutually-owned savings bank chartered in 1873. Currently, the bank serves the Pioneer Valley through 11 full-service branch locations in Florence, Northampton, Easthampton, Williamsburg, Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown, Granby, West Springfield, and Springfield. Additionally, they offer 24 ATMs and a wide range of financial services including investment management through FSB Financial Group (FSBFG) to consumers and businesses.  Florence Bank is consistently voted best local bank by the readers of the Valley Advocate and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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LEEDS—Jason Greene, owner and founder of J. Greene Painting in Leeds, recently launched a new website with an artistic feature aimed at raising awareness and food donations for the Northampton Survival Center.

Greene said he upgraded www.jgreenepainting.com because his roughly eight-year-old site needed a facelift, and he also wanted to update photos of completed projects and client testimonials.

To add interest and a bit of whimsy to the site, Greene created a feature through which visitors can submit haiku poetry. Each haiku submission must use the names of three paint colors from a list of 26 that Greene provides—13 from Benjamin Moore and 13 from Sherwin-Williams.

For each haiku that’s submitted, Greene will donate a pound of food to the survival center with a maximum donation of 100 pounds.

“I think people like to be challenged. They’re educated,” Greene said. “People like to be engaged, and they like to participate. This is a fun way to get involved and support the survival center.

“People don’t need to bring cans anywhere. They don’t have to donate money,” he added. “Just by submitting a clever haiku, they can generate a pound of food for someone in need.

J. Greene Painting was established 12 years ago by Greene, who works with a team of five employees—10 in the summer months—that also includes his father, Richard Greene. The company provides quality interior and exterior residential and commercial painting and is known for exceptional customer service, top quality results and community engagement.

Greene has used the haiku concept on his site about six years ago, as a contest. He has also run several similar contests in the past on his Facebook page, offering gift cards as prizes. In this promotion, there are no winners and no prizes, but he hopes to raise awareness of the Northampton Survival Center.

“The Valley is so great about giving,” he said. “I want people to be able to watch each other submit and watch the pounds of food accumulate.”

A haiku is a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, usually presented in three lines. Greene said clients who have visited his website in the past often remark about the haiku poetry that is contained within.

One example of a haiku on Greene’s company site came from Lisa Labrecque of West Springfield who wrote, “The Night Train crawls by/Hopeful is a Windy Sky/Along New Age comes.” “Night Train,” “Windy Sky” and “New Age” are paint color names.

Enter a haiku at www.jgreenepainting.com/haiku. For more information, contact Greene at jgreenepainting@gmail.com or visit www.jgreenepainting.com.

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