Anonymous donor offers $100K challenge grant to NH Food Bank

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New refrigerated box truck, gifted to the NH Food Bank by Citizens Bank in June of 2015.
New refrigerated box truck, gifted to the NH Food Bank by Citizens Bank in June of 2015.

MANCHESTER, NH – An anonymous donor last week made an offer the New Hampshire Food Bank would never refuse: A dollar-for-dollar match for all donations made to the NH Food Bank by the end of 2015– up to $100,000, which will double the much-needed support this holiday season for families in crisis.

The donor, who offered a $75,000 matching grant last year during the holiday season, will match every $1 that is donated to the New Hampshire Food Bank until the end of the year. This donation presents the NH Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities NH, with the chance to generate 400,000 meals for the more than 143,200 people who are food insecure, meaning they do not know where their next meal is coming from. To take part in this matching opportunity, please visit New Hampshire Food Bank’s Spirit of Giving page.

“We are incredibly thankful to this donor for providing the NH Food Bank with another outstanding opportunity to make a major impact during the holidays,” said Mel Gosselin, Executive Director of the NH Food Bank. “This is a challenging time of year for many of the people we service throughout the state. With limited resources, they are often choosing between buying food and paying for heat or purchasing warm clothing for their children. But with this donation, we have the opportunity to provide 400,000 meals to the 143,200 people, including 42,170 children, who are food insecure.”

This same anonymous donor provided the NH Food Bank with a $75,000 dollar-for-dollar matching challenge grant last year. NH Food Bank supporters were able to meet that goal, generating a total of $150,000 to support the NH Food Bank.

NH Food Bank turns every $1 donated into two nutritious meals without state or federal aid for food distribution. In 2014 that meant 11 million pounds of food went out to its 400 statewide partners, which marked a 30 percent increase from 2013. With the need growing this year, the NH Food Bank’s food distribution is expected to exceed 13 million pounds this year. The New Hampshire Food Bank supplies about half of the food that agencies distribute throughout the state.

For more information and to donate, visit NHFoodBank.org.

About the New Hampshire Food Bank
The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, has been working to relieve hunger in the Granite State since 1984.  In 2014, as the state’s only Food Bank, the New Hampshire Food Bank efficiently procured and distributed over 11 million pounds of food to people in need through more than 400 non-profit registered agencies.   Agencies include food pantries, neighborhood centers, low-income housing sites, senior nutrition centers, family crisis centers, hospices, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after school programs, and day care centers.  For more information about the New Hampshire Food Bank, please visit www.nhfoodbank.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nhfoodbank or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nhfb.

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!