Northampton Area Middle School Food Pantry recently received a generous and much-needed donation from a local organization.

On March 3, Richard Mullen, with Chapman Masonic Lodge No. 637, Northampton chapter, visited the school to present a $500 check to Jessica Boandl, coordinator of the food pantry. NAMS Assistant Principal Elizabeth Grammes and NAMS health teacher Brandie Barndt were also in attendance.

“This donation will be a huge help because we keep getting more students every week, especially with the colder weather. We got three new kids last week alone,” Boandl said.

Any NAMS student is eligible to receive assistance from the school food pantry after being recommended by a teacher or a guidance counselor. Once the parent gives the OK, the student will get a bag of food every Friday.

“They are easy-to-prepare, shelf-stable meals. We do a lot of breakfast cereals, soups, fruits, vegetables and other things,” Boandl said.

Grammes added the food pantry also has a clothing section that provides warm clothing and other necessities to those in need.

The food pantry was established in 2019 just before the pandemic began.

“There’s really no coordination between area food banks; they’re all kind of separate,” Grammes said. “I got advice from Second Harvest and a whole slew of paperwork on how to run our own pantry, but we were not able to get food from them. So everything is made possible through community support and fundraising.”

She added the teachers have been wonderful, going out of their way to help out.

“Everyone is on board,” she said.

As far as the separation between the food banks, Mullen said, “Several of our members are active at the area food bank. The second Saturday of every month, they volunteer at Northampton (Area) Food Bank to hand out food and pack bags or whatever is needed, so I was hoping to see them liaise between what they’re doing and what Jess is trying to do here.”

He said school food pantries are a separate entity in that they require clearances in order to protect the privacy of the children and their families. He would like to see a network of food banks and will see what can be done about that by spreading the word. He also said he would like to issue a challenge to other area organizations to support those in need through donations of their own to local and/or school food banks.

“We are extremely grateful to Mr. Mullen and everyone at the Chapman Masonic Lodge for such a generous donation,” Barndt reiterated.