15th Annual Fill The Belly Bus Community Food Drive

Another successful annual Fill The Belly Bus Food Drive!

• ‘A testament to the community’: 15th annual Belly Bus food drive sets new record – The Recorder, 08/5/2019

Franklin County Community Meals Program participated in the 15th Annual Fill the Belly Bus Community Food Drive on August 2nd, 2019. Every year, this event aims to help families who may be struggling to feed their children between the end of the Summer Meals Program, which provides free breakfast and lunch throughout the state, and the beginning of the school year when children can access free meals at their local public schools.

FCCMP executive director Andrea Leibson participated in the Belly Bus planning sessions which began in the spring. On the Belly Bus day, board president Marian and her spouse Walt, along with FCCMP staffer Tammy accepted — and encouraged — donations from patrons of Fosters Supermarket.

At 3pm, the Greenfield common swarmed with buses unloading their collections from Fosters, Food City, Big Y and Stop & Shop grocery stores Local businesses and individuals delivered the food to the common they’d been collecting. In all, nearly 7,400 pounds of food were collected as well as cash donations. The cash will be divided among the Center for Self-Reliance, Franklin Area Survival Center, FCCMP and Stone Soup Cafe; the food was divided among the Center for Self-Reliance, Franklin Area Survival Center and FCCMP.

FCCMP board members and staffers gathered its third of the Belly Bus food and went to the First United Methodist Church to sort and create grocery bags of food to be distributed to families who rely on the Orange Food Pantry for food assistance. The FCCMP owes many thanks to to the United Way of Franklin County, Big Y, Greenfield Savings Bank, and Stop & Shop for donating grocery bags. 158 grocery bags were created, 30% more bags than were created from last year’s Belly Bus collection!

Thanks to all who participated in the 15th Annual Fill the Belly Bus Community Food Drive!

See photos from our event below. Thanks to The Recorder for providing some of the photos.