MAY 2026

Agency Spotlight:

Emmanuel Advent Christian Church

Emmanuel Advent Christian Church, located in Rochester, is working to help end hunger through their community meals program and their food pantry. For almost 3 decades, free community meals have been made available for anyone who would like to attend. These meals originally started out quarterly and over time are now are taking place weekly.

Each Wednesday, dozens of area seniors gather for breakfast and Friday night community suppers are served every other week welcoming almost a hundred people, and those meals are often serving tray meals received through the NH Food Bank's Culinary Job Training Program.

After a short closure, the food pantry was re-opened in March 2025, with a client-choice model utilizing a small closet and it quickly outgrew that space. Currently, carts are rolled into the large church sanctuary and tables are set up, allowing dozens of households to shop on Mondays. The food pantry is also open just after the weekly senior breakfasts so that attendees can enjoy a meal, and also head home with needed food for the rest of the week. In total, about 80 families currently benefit from the food pantry each week and that number is continuing to grow. The food pantry is investigating options for a larger, more permanent space on the church property.

The Emmanuel Church team is very passionate about the care and assistance they are providing in the community and the collaboration between the community meals program and the food pantry. For them, it is not just about food, it’s about making a difference in people’s lives. It drives them to work with clients to assist with their housing and living needs in addition to food. As the cost of living and needs of the community change, the pantry and meals program continue to grow and evolve and look forward to meeting and serving new families in the future.

Garden Growers Call to Action

Check out this UNH Cooperative Extension blog post written by Amy Hollar letting local farmers and growers know how they can help their neighbors experiencing food insecurity by donating produce from their gardens directly to food pantries in their area.

The article shows the increasing need in New Hampshire and how to go about partnering with a local food resource!

Check out the Full Article!

NH Feeding NH

Applications were sent out on 4/15 for the 2026-2027 season of NH Feeding NH. For those of you who don't know what this program is, the NH Feeding NH program allows the NHFB to provide funding directly to agency partners for them to be able to purchase nutritious protein, dairy and produce for their clients at local farms and/or farmers markets.

The deadline to apply is 5/10

Apply Here!

Thanksgiving

As mentioned in the Partner Agency Network Call on 4/10, the NH Food Bank will not be purchasing turkeys this year. In years prior, we were purchasing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Thanksgiving turkeys and we've steadily been taking a step back from spending so much for one day and reallocating those funds to provide more to our agencies year round.

We will still be working with Hannaford for the annual Tons of Turkeys Food Drive and will make those available once received.
We will still be receiving donations and any bulk donations will be available online.
We will still have themed sides available in the purchase category.
We may have gift cards available.

Agency Drops

The feedback received from these drops has been great and we look forward to continuing throughout the year to better serve our rural agencies that only receive one delivery a month.

Orders for the Madison Drop on 5/20 need to be in by noon on 5/13. Orders for the Keene Drop on 5/27 need to be in by noon on 5/20.

*Item availability subject to change

Upcoming Drops:

5/20 - Madison

5/27 - Keene

Agency Capacity Building Grant

Lighthouse Credit Union has donated $40,000 to the NH Food Bank specifically for Capacity Building with Partner Agencies. We will be purchasing single door refrigerators and single door freezers with funds from this grant. For the first time, we will be having an application process to receive items from these types of grants and a voting committee made up of individuals from other departments at the NH Food Bank will oversee the process based on the submitted applications.

Application Period:

4/15/2026-5/30/2026

Apply Here!

Annual Handbook Signature

For 2026, we will be requiring all Partner Agencies to sign the 2026 Partner Agency Handbook. This will have some updated sections and some clarification on certain topics. We will not be requiring any other documents during this annual signature but we will be asking for some contact information and program information so we can make sure we're up to date.

You do not need to sign the current handbook at this time. We will let you know when the updates are ready!

Safety in the Warehouse

As part of our commitment to keeping everyone safe in our building, there will be some changes coming for our warehouse that will impact tour groups, staff and partner agencies.

As of January 2026, all agency shoppers inside the warehouse are required to wear reflective vests to utilize the shopping area. There will be vests available right inside the agency door and can be returned after shopping is complete.

Thank you for your cooperation in making sure that everyone stays safe!

Agency Relations Team!

Kristie Deneault

Agency Relations Manager

Hudson Wells

Fresh Rescue Coordinator

Stacey Garron

Agency Relations Coordinator

(Cheshire, Sullivan, Merrimack & lower Grafton County)

Jocelyn Cheney

Agency Relations Coordinator

(Belknap, Strafford & Rockingham County)

Marla Soucy

Agency Relations Coordinator

(Hillsborough County)

Christy Langlois

North Country Systems Manager

(Coos, Carroll & Upper Grafton County)

Helpful Links

Product Feedback Form

Partner Agency Handbook

Find Food Map

Agency Express

Meal Connect

Upcoming Classes

New Shopper Orientation

Wednesday, May 13th from 10:00am-12:00pm - Stacey

Tuesday, June 16th from 10:00am-12:00pm - Jocelyn

Basic Food Safety Training

SAFE Food Handling For Food Pantries:

TBD - UNH Cooperative has been going through a transition and no classes are available right now. Please use one of the options below.

SAFE Food Handling For Soup Kitchens & Prepared Meals:

TBD - UNH Cooperative has been going through a transition and no classes are available right now. Please use one of the options below.

All sessions are 2-2.5 hrs. trainings via Zoom. Dates and times are subject to change based on the availability of UNH Cooperative staff.

If you need to acquire food safety training (non-meal sites) but are unable to attend a live Zoom session, a similar training can be done online at workhub.com/features/training/food-safety or Alison.com/course/food-safety-and-hygiene. Both courses are free. Alison.com charges to print a certificate. To avoid this cost, send your Agency Coordinator a screenshot of the certificate or a screenshot of your “Learner Record” with the date of completion found in your Account Settings.

Food Manager Certificate Courses

Here are some course and test options for the Food Manager Certificate that meet the meal site requirement for any agency that produces meals. Please note, just the course itself without the certificate is not the requirement.

~ Certificates are valid for 5 years ~

Learn2Serve NH Food Safety Manager:

https://www.360training.com/learn2serve/food-safety-manager/New-Hampshire

$121 Course & Exam

Always Food Safe Manager:

https://alwaysfoodsafe.com/en/food-protection-manager/new-hampshire

$126 Course & Exam

ServSafe Food Protection Manager:

https://www.servsafe.com/ServSafe-Manager/Buy-Manager-Products

$179 Course & Exam