BMM provides crowdfunding match to Berkshire Bounty to meet emergency food supply need

Two nonprofits have stepped up to supply fresh meat and produce while the Western Mass. Food Bank relocates

By Matt Martinez, The Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD — Two local nonprofits have stepped up to help provide fresh meat and produce to local food pantries while the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts temporarily closes for its move to Chicopee.

Berkshire Community Action Council and Berkshire Bounty have raised a combined $43,000 to help bridge the gap for fresh food. The food bank will close for the last week of August and plans to reopen on Sept. 5, leaving about two weeks of need for area pantries.

Deborah Leonczyk, executive director of BCAC, said that while the effort to provide fresh food was meant to address “a real strain” on area pantries, the amount they’ll have available may actually be greater than what’s readily available when the food bank is open, thanks to the generosity of donors.

“We wish we could do this every week,” she said.

BCAC matched $11,500 from community organizations as part of a fundraising challenge, totaling $23,000 with its own contribution. The Berkshire Taconic Foundation donated $6,000. Berkshire Health Systems donated $5,000, which was split with $3,000 going to BCAC and $2,000 going to Berkshire Bounty. Berkshire United Way donated $2,500.

Berkshire Bounty held its own fundraiser, the Helping Hands crowdfund, raising $20,000 in two days from individual donors that were matched by Berkshire Money Management. Morgan Ovitsky, executive director of Berkshire Bounty, explained that the financial planning organization triple matched donations over $150 and did a dollar-for-dollar match with all donations under $150.

The result: A total of nine food pantries in the central Berkshires will be stocked with fresh chicken, pork, eggplants, green beans, onions, green peppers, dairy and eggs, among other items, for two weeks …