Area food pantries rally for upended Wendy's workers

By Chad Cain
Staff Writer

Published on August 10, 2007

Three area emergency food pantries, in partnership with The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, have joined forces to help meet the food needs of more than 350 former Wendy's workers who lost their jobs when 13 area restaurants abruptly closed on July 20.

Officials at the Northampton Survival Center, the Open Pantry in Springfield and the Berkshire Community Action Council in Pittsfield said they will expand their distribution to these laid-off workers and their families. The Food Bank will provide additional food supplies to these pantries above and beyond the normal distribution to them.

"We are reaching out to Wendy's workers who may not know that this safety net exists," said Jo Comerford, Food Bank director of programs. "We're also reaching out to others who may not know that an emergency food network exists (in western Massachusetts)."

Comerford said this is the first time the organizations have combined efforts in an organized, regional way. Because the Wendy's restaurants were spread out from Greenfield to Springfield, Comerford said the food pantries felt they had no option but to take a more regional approach.

The food banks in Northampton, Pittsfield and Springfield were selected because they are located in the same area as many of the restaurants and are open more hours and days of the week than some of the other food banks in the region, Comerford said.

As the Wendy's workers await word on when they will be paid for work they completed prior to the closings, the food pantries said they have already begun serving the men and women and their families. Wendy's workers are encouraged to note their relationship to the restaurant chain when visiting the pantries so that pantry workers can track their visits.

Comerford said that the Wendy's worker crisis shines a spotlight on the hardships of hunger and poverty endured every day by thousands of people in the Valley.

"Part of the reason we are reaching out in a public way is to help people realize it's a chronic issue," she said.

About 100,000 people experience food insecurity or hunger in western Massachusetts each year, according to a Food Bank press release. Food insecurity is defined as a situation in which access to food is limited or uncertain, or occurs in socially unacceptable ways.

The Northampton Survival Center, 265 Prospect St., is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. The Berkshire Community Action Council, 1531 East St., Pittsfield, is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. The Open Pantry, 50 Elm St., Springfield, is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In addition to the recent Wendy's effort, the emergency food providers urge all those needing emergency food or other services to access Project Bread's Foodsource Hotline at 800-645-8333.