Prior to COVID-19, Portsmouth’s Gather food pantry was serving roughly 100,000 pounds of food to 2,500-3,000 people a month. Since the pandemic began and more people are finding themselves food insecure, Gather has upped its monthly food distribution to 200,000 pounds to about 6,500-7,000 people, according to Associate Executive Director Seneca Bernard.
Through strong partnerships with the New Hampshire Food Bank and other meal distribution organizations, Bernard said he and colleagues statewide have become more flexible in their work to meet increasing demand.
“So while there’s been a lot of challenges, some of the positives that have come out of it have certainly benefited the underlying support system that we all have,” he said.
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