Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/23/2022
AMHERST – The Amherst Survival Center will resume indoor dining and community activities on Sept. 1 for guests to eat, speak and build relationships together.
Guests will be able to utilize the center’s indoor space from noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. A free hot lunch will be served from 12 to 2:30 p.m. in the dining room and guests can enjoy the pantry, resource center, computers and other services for individuals experiencing homelessness. The pantry has a variety of services including in-person shopping, curbside pick-up and grocery delivery.
Survival Center Executive Director Lev BenEzra said in an interview with Reminder Publishing that the center saw an increase in the need for food with the start of COVID-19 – a need that has continued to increase.
BenEzra said the last five months have been the busiest in the food pantry’s history, with a 27 percent increase in the number of people coming daily for fresh produce and a 16 percent increase in lunches that are being distributed compared to this fall.
“All of us are experiencing the realities of higher prices at the grocery store,” BenEzra said. “For families who were already struggling to make ends meet, this has created an impossible scenario. We are seeing more of our neighbors struggling and struggling more deeply.”
The center also offers a variety of activities and resource programming that are updated regularly online at amherstsurvival.org/events.
The center has a health clinic generally scheduled on Mondays and already scheduled for Aug. 29, Sept. 12 and Sept. 19. Residents can also enroll for SNAP at the center, with the current days scheduled Aug. 26 and Sept. 9.
“As we re-open our space as a community center and offer indoor dining, we will be striving to combine the best of what we were and the best of what we have learned over the past few years,” BenEzra said.
“The Amherst Survival Center remains committed to sustaining our expanded food and nutrition programs, including both onsite and delivery, because the need is so strong. We are keeping our expanded lunch hours and to-go options, we are maintaining and expanding and we know that more food isn’t the only need.”
BenEzra said the center is actively seeking new volunteers for indoor and outdoor roles, including lunch prep, serving and clean-up. She added that the pantry has been running especially low on pasta and cereal. Unopened, non-expired food can be donated on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Thursdays between 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., or the third Saturday of the month between 9 a.m. and noon. Any questions can be emailed to info@amherstsurvivalcenter.org or by calling 549-3968. More information including a donation box is online at amherstsurvival.org.
“Everything we do is only possible thanks to the incredible community support that power the Amherst Survival Center’s work,” BenEzra said. “This is true now more than ever as we re-open our community space and indoor dining while maintaining our expanded food and nutrition programs. We need your help.”