Mission & History - New Hampshire Food Bank

Our Mission

The Mission of the New Hampshire Food Bank is to feed hungry people by soliciting and effectively distributing grocery products and perishable foods, and offering innovative programs through a statewide network of approved agencies; by advocating for systemic change; and by educating the public about the nature of, and solutions to, problems of hunger in New Hampshire.

What We Do

The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, serves as the only food bank in the state, working to provide nutritious food and resources to the hundreds of thousands of New Hampshire residents that are food insecure. The Food Bank supplies millions of pounds of food annually to more than 400 partner agencies, including food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, children’s programs, senior centers and more. In turn, these agencies provide hunger relief to those suffering from food insecurity throughout the state. The New Hampshire Food Bank operates in all 10 NH counties.

Over the years, the NH Food Bank has evolved as an organization. We have created innovative programs designed to fight the root causes of hunger by empowering people to learn new skills, enabling them to become more self-sufficient and improve their quality of life.

How We Work

History

The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, opened its doors on World Food Day in 1984 and in that first year distributed 250,000 pounds of food to feed the hungry throughout the state. At that time, the Food Bank had 600 square feet of space in a garage.

Over the years, the Food Bank has continued to expand in step with our distribution efforts. We moved to a larger space in downtown Manchester on West Brook Street, and then in August of 2010, the Food Bank moved into our current home, a 60,000 square foot facility on East Industrial Park Drive in Manchester. We have seen many efficiencies since that move, including improved work flow and the ability to stretch donor dollars when purchasing food due to more storage/capacity.

Now 40 years after first opening our doors, the New Hampshire Food Bank – the only food bank in the state – is a vital distributor and supplier to our partner hunger relief organizations (often referred to as partner agencies) throughout NH. Each year the Food Bank distributes tens of millions of pounds of food to all corners of the Granite State, and on average our partner agencies receive about 60% of their food from the New Hampshire Food Bank.

In 2023, the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed more than 16 million pounds of non-perishable food items, fresh produce and protein, the equivalent of more than 13 million meals, to our more than 400 partner agencies located in communities throughout New Hampshire.