Changing of the guard: welcome to our new Executive Director Rachel Berggren

Left: Outgoing ED Andrea Leibson. Right: new Meals Program ED Rachel Berggren

See our article in The Recorder for details

The Franklin County Community Meals Program has said goodbye to its executive director of more than four years, and is welcoming a new director on Monday, June 1st.

The Meals Program cannot find sufficient words with which to express our gratitude to Andrea as she stewarded our organization in troubled times and brought it to new heights. We have seen significant growth in the amount of meals we are able to serve every month, and the sheer tonnage of food we are able to store and distribute from our food pantries. Andrea had even graciously prolonged her stay at FCCMP during the nascent pandemic, and provided invaluable help during an uncertain time; she continues to provide support during the transition to Rachel Berggren’s nascent tenure as Executive Director.

While Berggren is new to Franklin County Community Meals Program, she is not new to the world of hunger. She has cultivated a career specializing in food access by working at farmers markets, conducting community needs assessments on the intersection of hunger and food surplus, leading nutrition education workshops, facilitating workshops on the intersection of hunger and racism, and assisting with program evaluation for food justice nonprofits in the Pioneer Valley. We look forward to the energy, enthusiasm, and expertise Rachel will bring to this role, as we continue feeding our neighbors at this especially crucial time of need.