Your monthly look into what's happening at the NH Food Bank.

New and exciting for 2024, the NHFB is excited to introduce the NHFB & Partner Agency Network Call. This zoom call will be an open format where our team and department heads will provide you with updates, information, and the latest news from the NH Food Bank. We will also take this time to introduce some new initiatives and changes taking place in 2024 and how it may affect your program. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about these topics during this time.

This call will also be recorded for anyone who is unable to attend.

We hope you can join us!

NHFB & Partner Agency Network Call

Wednesday, March 20th @1:00pm

There is no need to RSVP, just click on the link below to join us on the 20th.

NHFB & Partner Agency Network call

Agency Spotlight:

Claremont Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry

Every week, Claremont Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry serves hundreds of families and individuals through meals served three times a day, and a food pantry which is open five days a week. In addition to food assistance, they twice a month offer free health screenings and vaccinations provided by medical professionals from the community. They also provide as-needed food assistance to the town’s local warming shelter, offer snacks to some of the local schools, and prepare and distribute packaged lunches to over 100 school children five days a week over the summer months.

With such a large operation, this can only be made possible with a team of supportive and dedicated volunteers. Many volunteers have been showing up several days a week for years and work alongside their friends and family members--sometimes up to three generations all volunteer together on the same day. There is a feeling of community and pride in what each person there does. Some volunteers shared what it meant for them to serve their neighbors in this way, and they provided stories of interactions they have had with those they serve. A family recently moved into town from Ukraine and when they arrive to receive food, volunteers know to take out their cell phone to use a translation app to be able to communicate with them, not only so that they know what the meal is but also to be able to welcome them and see how they are doing. 

Another non-profit organization in town is PathWays which provides services and support to adults with disabilities. Several individuals from PathWays volunteer at the soup kitchen and pantry each day, some of which have been hired on part-time after volunteering. This partnership between Claremont Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry and PathWays provides life skills, responsibility, and purpose to the volunteers but also provides reliable, hardworking, consistent assistance for the soup kitchen and food pantry operations.

In speaking with a volunteer who has received assistance from the food pantry, she voiced an appreciation for the food she received for her family, but also the care and friendships she has also gained at her time volunteering at the soup kitchen. As much as the work that programs do in providing food assistance to those in need is important, building a sense of purpose, support, and care is just as emotionally healing and important to the well-being of a community as a whole. 

USDA & FDA Recalls

USDA Recalls and FDA Recalls are issued as needed and sent out via email from the NHFB if they are issued nationwide or affect New England. Your agency should be receiving these recall notices as they are sent out.

Per AIB Food Safety Audit recommendations, we have begun sharing these same recalls in our warehouse. When your agency comes inside for the indoor shopping floor, there will be a marker board next to the check-in table that will have all current recalls along with a printout of the same recall.

This list is updated weekly, or as needed. If at any time you would like a copy of any recall, we are happy to provide that to you.

The NHFB gathers much of our annual statistics and information from the data you provide to us through your Quarterly Service Report(QSR). It is important that the information you enter is accurate so we can update our records when creating statistics, applying for grants, and providing data to Feeding America. We also use this information when allocating items and quantities for programs in some circumstances. This means if your data is reported inaccurately, this may affect the items or amounts that you receive.

Things to remember:

• The numbers you're reporting monthly for individuals served are duplicated on this form. This means that any time you are providing food to a client, you count that as one, even if they are eating three meals a day or visit multiple times a week you will count them each time.
• The percentage of food from the NHFB includes any food received through your orders on Agency Express, any food received through the NHFB (ex. Albertson's Breakfast Boxes), any food received through the Fresh Rescue retail pickup program (Any weekly pickups from Hannaford, Shaw's, Walmart, BJ's, Bimbo Bakeries, Sam's Club, Dollar General, etc.) and any food drives that are enabled to your program (ex. Tackles Hunger, Spirit of Giving, etc.)

If you would like more information or want to verify if you are providing us with accurate data, please contact your NHFB Coordinator for clarification. We can also have our Training & Resource Coordinator do a private training.

Cooking Matters^®

No kitchen, no problem. Your site may still be a good fit for the Cooking Matters program!

Did you know your site doesn’t need to have a kitchen to host a Cooking Matters course? If you have a sink with hot running water that is separate from the bathroom and have active electrical outlets, your site might be the right fit to provide nutrition and culinary education to your community. The Cooking Matters team brings the kitchen to you!

A six-week Cooking Matters course empowers low-income families on how to stretch their food budgets so they can prepare healthy meals at home and spend less time worrying about what is for dinner! There is no cost involved for you or your clients.

*For more information on Cooking Matters, visit https://nhfoodbank.org/what-we-do/cooking-matters-nh. You can also contact Ryann Williams, the Cooking Matters NH Coordinator, to gather more information and apply! rwilliams@nhfoodbank.org or (603) 669-9725 x1133.

You are invited to a SNAP Outreach Workshop!

NH Food Bank is hosting a SNAP awareness workshop to help those directly interacting with potential SNAP applicants. Walk away with a broader understanding of SNAP and an increased ability to talk about SNAP with your clients who are on a limited income and who may be eligible for SNAP benefits. This SNAP overview will help you speak more confidently about the program, reduce stigma, prevent confusion, and increase confidence in application follow through. This workshop will also provide opportunity for you to ask questions.

When: March 14, 2024 at 12:00pm

Pre-registration is required for this meeting.



Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEude-orTsvH9x9W5CL38NptknmrxIVEBIY

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Unable to attend? We offer these trainings quarterly! *This same session was offered twice in 2023, so if you attended one of those sessions, this will be the same thing and there is no need to attend again unless you want to.

To request SNAP Outreach materials for your location, complete the SNAP Outreach Partner Interest Form at: https://nhfoodbank.org/snap-pif.

Greater Boston Food Bank Visit

In February, the NHFB Agency Relations team was invited to visit the Greater Boston Food Bank. Our team was able to tour the GBFB facility, network with their team, discuss projects and plans for 2024, and join them for their monthly Agency Network zoom call.

This visit was a great opportunity for our team to experience another Feeding America partner Food Bank's mission, best practices and ideas on serving the community. We believe that it was a beneficial time for both our team and theirs. We look forward to future visits with other food banks over the next few months and hope to bring back more ideas on how to better serve New Hampshire.

Pantry, Soup Kitchen & Shelter Survey

QSR Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to the 4th Quarter 2023 QSR winners! Each winning agency has received a $25 credit on their NHFB account.

Wellspring Food Pantry - West Lebanon

North Country Senior Meals - Colebrook

West Central Behavioral Health (WCBH) - Newport

To be eligible to win next quarter, be sure to submit your report on time (when next issued in April) and use the current online reporting form.

All sessions are held online via Zoom.

To enroll in any upcoming session, please contact your Agency Relations Coordinator. A zoom link will be sent out prior to the class for those who signed up to attend.

New Shopper Orientation

Wednesday, March 6th @10:00am

Tuesday, March 26th @1:30pm

Thursday, April 11th @10:00am

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Safe Food Handling

For Food Pantries:

Monday, March 18th @9:30am

Tuesday, April 2nd @1:00pm

For Soup Kitchens & Prepared Meals:

Thursday, March 7th @1:30pm

Thursday, May 2nd @9:30am



All programs are required to have at least one person at their facility that is Safe Food Handling certified (or a similar certification). Certification is good for up to 5 years. Programs that serve meals will be required to have ServSafe Food Handler Certification or equivalent (ANSI Accredited Certification) by June 1st, 2024.

One Last Note From Agency Relations

If you missed one of our recent "Indoor Shopping" training sessions, we will soon be offering these sessions as a recorded video that you can watch on your own. Once this recording has been completed by our team, we will notify all programs with an explanation of where to find the video and how to view it for those that need the training.