Feeding New England: End Hunger NE Hits 50 Million Meals

Matthew Martin is chronically online, but for a good reason. Every morning, Martin opens his laptop and checks for messages from across New England. He’s scanning for emails from food pantries who are running low on food, school backpack programs asking for more deliveries, and veterans’ shelters waiting for their next shipment. As the New England Development Coordinator for The Outreach Program, known regionally as End Hunger NE, Martin is on a mission to feed his neighbors. 

“We always have a line of pantries waiting for food now,” said Martin. “At one point we had up to 50 waiting, so we’ll just keep packing to make sure no one goes hungry.”

The organization, which operates out of a warehouse in Pembroke, has distributed 50 million meals since launching 15 years ago. The milestone will be celebrated at a benefit this Sunday, Oct. 12, at Stellwagen Beer Company in Marshfield. 24 hours after volunteers will be celebrating and fundraising for the next round of meals in Marshfield, others will arriving at the warehouse to pack them.

Feeding a Region in Crisis

Across New England, and in our own backyard, hunger has surged. The Greater Boston Food Bank reported that, in 2024, 37% of households in Plymouth County could not afford enough food to eat and worried about where they would get their next meal. 

That spike has been mirrored by a growing network of local food pantries. “Meals are flying out from our warehouse in Pembroke almost every day,” Martin said. The group distributes to over 656 food pantries, schools, and other organizations. 

Each pouch from End Hunger NE contains enough to feed six people and is fortified with 11 grams of protein and 21 vitamins and minerals. “You just have to boil water to make them,” Martin said. “Our homeless clients even love it. You’re cooking it in one pot and eating out of the same pot. It’s like the type of stuff you would take camping.”

For Elizabeth Reardon, a pastoral associate with the Archdiocese of Boston, that accessibility is vital and that the meals are easily prepared. “Those kids may not have eaten anything hot all day,” she said. “They’re coming home from school, and they can make themselves something to eat. It’s in their backpack.”

Faith in Action

Faith communities have been one of the biggest supporters of End Hunger NE in terms of time and dollars. 

“Here at our synagogue, we host in the spring an annual Mitzvah day, which is a day of doing good for the community. Last year, we brought the meal packing here into the synagogue and over the course of four hours we packed 10,000 meals,” said Cantor Steven Weiss of Congregation Sha’aray Shalom in Hingham. 

Martin added, “When we're at our warehouse and we have 80 people in the room, we actually do 17,000 meals an hour.” Every year, End Hunger NE packs 3 or 4 million meals. 

Anyone of any age is able to participate in meal packing. “We have had a 2 and half year old helping and an 88-year-old helping at the same time. A few months ago, a 101-year-old was packing meals. They sat down for the whole event, but they were there. It was amazing,” said Martin.

“Scripture says the poor will always be among you, so I think it’s so important for us as communities of faith to ask ourselves- how we're rising to meet that challenge? What do we do when we see the poor? We need to be active in our faith,” said Reardon. 

“People are praying with their hands and feet,” added Weiss. 

Folks from all backgrounds, including those who are not religious, are also eagerly welcomed to volunteer. ​​“We've now worked with 94 different kinds of groups, but it was atheist humanists at Harvard and four different Protestant groups that got rolling with this,” said Martin. 

Meals that Meet People Where They Are

Martin said the program’s success is rooted in partnerships with local pantries that know their communities best. “A pantry will say we want four boxes of that, six of those, whatever kind,” he explained. “Sometimes they order all ten kinds. Sometimes they order two or three, but we literally get requests every single month for every kind.”

That choice matters, he said, because people are more likely to eat what they actually want. “You don’t have to read or speak English,” he added. “Even a 12-year-old can boil water.”

The meals available from End Hunger NE range from breakfast to dinner options. “We have five rice kinds, three pastas and two oatmeal. Our most popular is still mac and cheese,” said Martin. “Cheesy rice is wildly popular in northern New England for whatever reason. Minestrone soup is very popular at this time of year. It’s hard to believe, but in just a few months from now, people will choose between heating and eating.” 

End Hunger NE’s meals go where hunger often hides from Cape Cod classrooms to veterans’ halls and small-town shelters. “Veterans in Marshfield have been getting these meals every single month,” Martin said. “Students on the Cape get meals every single month.” Even during storms or emergencies, the ready-to-heat meals provide an immediate lifeline. “If there’s a nor’easter, they’re just handing them to kids on the school bus in Hull,” he said.

The Scale of a Simple Idea

At just 40 cents per meal, every dollar stretches far. “The neat thing is it’s the least expensive, most nutritious meal they’ve ever eaten,” Martin said. “If someone donates a hundred dollars, you can suddenly feed hundreds of people.”

Since 2010, End Hunger NE has supplied food to pantries across six states and the need has never stopped increasing. Martin said many groups come to pick up boxes straight from the loading dock. “We’re talking three and a half times the demand for these meals in just a three-year span. That’s why it’s so important.”

That connection has grown beyond local faith organizations. The organization has sent meals across the Commonwealth and out west to assist Californians after the wildfires last year. Meals have even been flown to Ukraine.

“A lot of the food banks are now teaching cooking classes and nutrition to people, which is great. This is just a meal, ready to eat. Eat it right after school if you're hungry,” said Martin. 

From Homelessness to Hope

Martin’s commitment to this cause is deeply personal. “Thirty-one years ago, I was just a few days into what turned into several months of homelessness,” he recalled. College friends took him in during that brutal Minnesota winter, an act of kindness that changed his life.

After college, Martin spent 9 years as a pastor. He left parish work to join the Outreach Program, founded in Iowa, and launch its New England branch.

Since then, the program has partnered with faith and community groups, schools, and businesses including professional sports teams like the Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox, and the Free Jacks. Liberty Mutual and other donors have helped keep meals flowing to pantries from Maine to Connecticut.

Now, he channels that experience into action. “We just keep packing to make sure that this ball keeps rolling,” he said. “We want to do the next 50 million.”

To learn more about End Hunger NE, sign up to volunteer, or donate, visit their website and find them on Facebook.

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