NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Berkshire Food Project serves more than meals: it serves community. 

 

Michael and Lyn Robertson love volunteering and have been with the Food Project for six years.

 

"I like it because you get to know some of the folks," Mike Robertson said. "You'll see Ella and say, 'Hey, Ella, how you doing? Give me a fist bump.' And you know you made that connection with them. And so that's great to see the same folks who came in again and welcome them."

 

The nonprofit organization on Tuesday celebrated its more than 60 volunteers who spent more than 8,500 hours last year feeding the community.

 

The project saw a 16 percent growth in participation in the weekday free meal program, to about 29,000 total visits. The organization served almost 45,000 meals in 2025 and saw about 400 new people come to appreciate its service. It's also seen record donations, pulling in double the amount at $100,000.

 

"You give us the courage to continue on," Executive Director Matthew Alcombright told them. "I can't say that more heartfelt, and any more appreciative. ... The things you say, the things you do, the just the kind of growth you come in with gives us the courage to keep doing what we're doing.

 

So thank you for that, because these are incredible numbers, and it's because of you. It's not because of one person or a board of directors who are great, too, and wonderful. It's because of you."

 

The Berkshire Food Project is housed at First Congregational Church. It serve hot lunches from Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., "no questions asked." It also provides meals to the Louison House, the Have Hope Recovery Center, the Roots Teen Center and UCP of Berkshire County, and has a delivery program of 50 meals three times of week with Northern Berkshire Transit.

 

"We exist for everybody in this community. T the mission of the Berkshire Food Project is to combat food insecurity and social isolation," Alcombright said. "That doesn't mean you need to be experiencing those things to come here. It means this is a place for all of the community."

 

While guests are important, the project's board wanted to make sure the volunteers know they are, too.

 

"The focus is always and always should be on our guests that walk through our doors every day. I do think that Berkshire Food Project provides a service to its volunteers as well," said board President Timothy Faselt. "The volunteers that are here want to be here, love to be here, get satisfaction, if not more than satisfaction from coming here, and it creates a sense of community for them, too. 

 

"So maybe it's not the definition of symbiotic, but there's a level of symbiosis there as well, which doesn't often get talked about."

 

Lynn Chick has been volunteering with the organization for over a year and said she appreciates the difference it makes.

 

"People are really happy to be served food. And that goes for any of us. If you're in your home and you're serving food, it's a very hospitable, welcoming way to say hello and greet somebody, and that is multiplied in a community setting at a community meal," she said. "So it's very much a community event, especially for North Adams. It branches out a little bit, but especially for this core group that congregate in downtown North Adams, that I appreciate the community meal."

 

Another volunteer, Denny Meneghelli, has been volunteering with the group for about five years and said it's a great way to connect to the community.

 

"It's the social aspect of it, and how important that is, that people have others to connect to, and people watching out from them and all that," she said. "So that's how I got involved, and that's what I just love about it, is just the way the whole program is such a fantastic program and so unique. I think it's really great to see everybody just coming in."

 

She also spoke about how great the staff are and that it's a lot more than just a meal — it's a helping hand.

 

"A couple weeks ago, one of the regulars here wasn't quite right, and the staff got her some medical help, and she ended up in the hospital and has serious problems," Meneghelli said. "And if she hadn't come, right, and they hadn't seen it, she probably wouldn't have made it. And so that's a lot more than a plate of food, which is so important." 

 

The increased participation is putting pressure on the kitchen, part of the church's parish hal. While they love the partnership with the church, where the project's been for decades, Alcombright said the kitchen is small for the amount of food it's now serving. That has the program considering whether it needs to find new quarters. 

 

"We need to provide the amount of food, and so the kitchen space right now is small. But again, we want to talk about proud moments again, even with an 'inadequate kitchen,' we're still doing it every single day," he said. "That's a proud moment to be able to because some places just be like, 'oh, we can't do it,' no, we can, we can. It takes a lot of extra effort, but we're doing it."