Al Nelson Food Pantry

The Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative is a grassroots organization formed in May 2010, as an all-volunteer group of persons of faith and others of goodwill with the goal of providing a safety net to those in need in our communities with openness, friendliness, and most importantly, dignity and respect.

The Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry is our main program. The pantry provides healthy and nutritious  supplemental food to those in our community experiencing food insecurity. 

Anyone in need is eligible to receive food and we do not discriminate for any reason.

The pantry is a member agency of the Western Massachusetts Food Bank.

In 2022, we served 548 individual households consisting of 1,496 individuals.  We distributed 170,776 pounds of food.

More and more families are falling into the category of ‘working poor’.

High unemployment, cost of living increases and transportation barriers in this area all contribute. We remain dedicated to increasing the nutritional value of the foods we serve and finding long-term solutions for access to affordable, healthy foods. We also continue to promote healthy eating and active lifestyle education through our collaborations with various outside service agencies.

The pantry is open on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We do deliveries on Thursday morning from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Households can receive food every two weeks, the amount based on family size. Our board is made up of dedicated members including a President, Vice-President, Clerk, Treasurer, Food Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator. We remain a totally volunteer organization.