Who We Are

The Worcester County Food Bank is a wonderful collaboration of local non-profit human and social service providers, donors from the food industry, corporate, government, civic and private sectors, and individual volunteers whose support and partnership is focused on "providing relief from hunger" to friends and neighbors in Central Massachusetts.

Since its incorporation in 1982 the Worcester County Food Bank has collected and distributed more than 50 million pounds of food and grocery product through a network of local shelters, food pantries, senior centers, residential rehabilitation programs, soup kitchens, after-school programs and neighborhood centers that help feed hungry people of all ages in 72 communities in Central Massachusetts.

The base of operations for the Worcester County Food Bank is a 37,000 square foot facility located at 474 Boston Turnpike (Route 9), Shrewsbury, MA.

The Worcester County Food Bank is a member of America's Second Harvest, the nation's official network of food banks and food rescue organizations.


What We Do

The Worcester County Food Bank collects, inspects, and stores donated food and grocery product and distributes it through a network of 260 partner agencies to help feed hungry people living in 70 cities and towns in Central Massachusetts.
The Food Bank serves as an advocate for agencies providing hunger-relief services. The Food Bank also offers resources such as nutrition education and safe food handling and maintenance information.In addition to food acquisition and distribution, the Worcester County Food Bank provides the following programs:

Second Serving Food Rescue Program
This program rescues prepared and perishable foods from local restaurants, supermarkets, and farms and delivers directly by regrigerated truck to local shelters and meals programs.

Nutrition Education
This program features workshops and nutrition training for staff and clients of our partner agencies. Regional workshops are presented quarterly at a partner agency location. This year's regional workshop is "From Pantry to Table". ServSafe training and certification are also offered to Food Bank and partner agency staff and volunteers.

Community Kitchen
The Community kitchen is a culinary arts job training program. This program provides low-income residents with an opportunity to acquire marketable job skills while sharing in the cause of hunger relief. Meals prepared by the student chefs are distributed to Kids Cafe programs and 16 community feeding programs. The Community Kitchen participates in the Summer Food Service Program and each summer provides meals for four children's feeding sites.


The Worcester County Food Bank's mission:
To engage, educate, and lead Worcester County in creating a hunger-free community.