The number of households that are food insecure has doubled since the pandemic according to a report released in April 2026 by Mass General Brigham and the Greater Boston Food Bank. That is 40% of all Massachusetts households (over 1 million!) with 25% regularly missing meals or going hungry.The Rotary Club of Peabody has supported local food programs for decades: they provide and serve one meal each month at the local food pantry, Haven from Hunger. They provide weekend meals once a month to a local church that distributes to people who do not have access to food on the weekend, and the club supports the No Child Goes Hungry in Peabody, a program that delivers free groceries to food insecure families with children in the school district. Therefore, it made sense for the Club to support another meals program, Meals of Hope.
Jack Day from Meals of Hope (and President of the Rotary Club of Chelmsford) spoke at a club meeting, and the Peabody Rotarians knew what they had to do. So on Saturday, May 16, a bunch of Peabody Rotarians and Milton from the Danvers Club showed up at the high school ready to serve. With Jack Day's guidance, they packed 5,000 pasta with tomato sauce meals and 3,429 apple and cinnamon oatmeal meals. The work is easy and it goes fast. Jack makes it fun by encouraging friendly competition and music from back in the day. There was lots of singing and laughter, and there was especially the satisfaction in knowing that they were able to box up so many meals that will help families in the greater Boston area.