Salem State Honors The Salem Pantry With Community Partner Award

SALEM, MA — The Salem Pantry was honored with Salem State University's inaugural Community Partner Award for its ability to grow to meet the food security demands of the region in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis.

Salem State University representatives delivered the award to The Salem Pantry at its annual Community Partner Breakfast on Nov. 13.

"This year, we wanted to more broadly highlight our partners and the great work they do, with a special attention on how to build reciprocal community partnerships that are also equitable," said Katelyn Adams, assistant director of Salem State's Center for Civic Engagement. "When we were thinking about our partners who are truly being intentional and building equitable partnerships, it was without a doubt the Pantry that stood out."

The Salem Pantry heavily expanded to meet the needs of the COVID-19 crisis and launched a truck-based mobile pantry operation. The Pantry now distributes 64,000 pounds of food across all sites each week, versus about 7,500 pounds in 2019 — a more than 800% increase across five years.

The Pantry ran a pop-up market for Salem State and its neighboring Rainbow Terrace in an underutilized space on Loring Avenue. It also launched "The Truck" that now hits each of Salem State's three campuses each week.

"Food insecurity is a concern for many of our very own students, so we take this challenge seriously at Salem State," University President John Keenan said. "Students who come to campus nourished perform better in the classroom, leading to stronger outcomes academically and onward in life."

The Salem Pantry was launched in 2018 after a study into the need for food in the community.

"Out of that, there was a finding that there was a chronic unmet need for food," The Salem Pantry Executive Director Robyn Burns said. "The model at 68 Loring Ave. was a defacto flagship for the Mobile Pantry program. As we were shifting models to The Truck, it gave us an opportunity to work much more closely with the university."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)