Franklin County businesses, nonprofits join forces for ‘Canned-Do’ food drive

GREENFIELD — With hunger continuing to rise since the pandemic began, the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Gagne Wealth Management Group, Greenfield Cooperative Bank and Rachel’s Table are launching the “Canned-Do” nonperishable food drive.

With Rachel’s Table, the food rescue and redistribution program of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, leading the way, the public and businesses of Franklin County are encouraged to collect nonperishable food items to fill the shelves of local pantries. Donations will be accepted at several location through Christmas.

“Several factors are at work here: one, hunger in Massachusetts is double what it was pre-pandemic, moving from 8.2% to 16.4%,” Rachel’s Table Director Jodi Falk said in a statement, “two, inflation makes purchasing food challenging for people as well as agencies, and three, there are some supply chain issues that have made the typical avenues where agencies get food a little more complicated.”

The food drive was started when Greenfield Cooperative Bank President Tony Worden and Gagne Wealth Management founder Merrill Gagne purchased 708 pounds of chicken, beef and pork for local pantries to distribute throughout the holiday season. This combined with the bank’s partnership to create a nonperishable food drive to support the Franklin County Community Meals Program, which then blossomed into the “Canned-Do” food drive when Community Action Pioneer Valley, the Greenfield Salvation Army, Stone Soup Cafe and Franklin County’s YMCA joined the effort.

“Tony and Merrill stepping up so generously, and also encouraging their businesses to help out, especially before the holidays, makes a huge difference to our community,” Falk said.

With the initial group of businesses and nonprofits joining forces, Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessye Deane encourages other businesses in the county to participate as well.

“The need is great, but our generosity is greater,” Deane said. “The collaboration between businesses and nonprofits is so uniquely Franklin County. When there’s a need, we all come together to meet it. The responsiveness of Gagne Wealth Management, Greenfield Cooperative Bank and Rachel’s Table represents the best of Franklin County.”

Donation boxes are available at Greenfield Cooperative Bank, the Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, Community Action’s Center for Self-Reliance, Greenfield’s Salvation Army, Stone Soup Cafe and the Franklin County Community Meals Program. Businesses interested in having their own donation box can call Rachel’s Table at 413-773-0084, ext. 251.

Nonperishable items requested include canned meats, soups and vegetables; nuts; oats; grains, such as brown rice and quinoa; pastas, including gluten-free or bean pastas; spaghetti sauce; root vegetables or squash; and other assorted nonperishable food items. Items must be unopened. A full list can be found on Rachel’s Table’s website at bit.ly/3i2KpkS.