Dear Friends,

Happy LGBTQ+ Pride month! We were so happy to see so many of our supporters at Greenfield Pride on Saturday.

After a meaningful and productive pause of the Franklin County Community Meals Program's Greenfield Meal Service, we are delighted to announce that we will be resuming meals this Wednesday, June 17th, at the Second Congregational Church at 4:45pm. We are welcoming a new Meal Site Coordinator, Nino Flecha, and Jared Medeiros, Site Steward, who, together, will provide a meal experience that is nourishing, safe, and caring. Nino and Jared have been working for FCCMP in Orange, MA and come with a passion for our mission and tons of expertise to share.

The last several weeks of intense work have brought our organization's mission and process into focus. For example, last week we held a fantastic Staff Development Day where we met with the nutritionist from the Food Bank of Western Mass, did de-escalation and health and safety trainings, and developed a Food Philosophy:

"FCCMP strives to provide fresh, balanced nourishment in a food-safe environment. Prioritizing our guests, we focus on creating an atmosphere of dignity, respect, and belonging . We strive to offer approachable and inclusive meals and groceries that reflect the diverse cultures, traditions, and dietary needs of our community. Through every visit, we seek to ensure that people feel comfortable, satisfied, connected, and valued."

With a sense of urgency lighting a fire under us, we are excited to be reopening. However, there are still issues to work through. Our next step will be providing an improved volunteer process. We ask our beloved volunteers for your patience while we make these improvements. In the meantime, if you are a group that typically volunteers for a certain interval per month or quarter, please feel free to email to let us know your preferred time slot and area of volunteering (such as serving, meal prep, pantry bag organizing etc).

From this Wednesday on, you can expect to rely upon FCCMP to provide meals in Greenfield on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. For information on all our services and food offerings, you can visit our community meals page and Orange food pantry page.

We are eternally grateful for the support of this community as FCCMP continues to build up its infrastructure and improve its best practices. We will turn our attention to Northfield next.

Stay tuned for more news this week! There is so much goodness happening!

In solidarity,

Charlie Spencer, she/her

Interim Executive Director, The Franklin County Community Meals Program