Collaboration between Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, RTWM and the Center for Self-Reliance
Celebrating Partnerships of Care and Community
Dear friends and family of RTWM,
We at Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts wish you a 2025 of good health, nourishing community and continued partnership in service. In this newsletter, you’ll see our 2024 impact, including that we, with our wonderful volunteers, distributed 925,000 pounds of food, and what we are hoping for in 2025.
At the turn of another calendar year, and six years into my position at Rachel’s Table, I see reasons to pause – hunger is growing, and on the other hand, reasons to celebrate – we continue to grow to meet the need. An important nuance in our growth is in the “how.” We may move more food, but often “more” means leaning into a new way of operating, creating more equity in distribution, or in developing and strengthening partnerships that, together, serve our communities better.
We couldn’t do what we do without partnerships. We partner with 350+ volunteers who quietly get food to people every day. We partner with over 100 food donors and over 75 agencies and affiliate agencies. And we continue to find partnerships in the local food provider network that synergize each other’s work to go beyond even our own expectations. Some partnerships augment our mission, such as the cooking demonstrations by Ascentria Care Alliance as part of our Growing Gardens events, and some fill each other’s gaps, such as our Food Bank of Western Massachusetts partnership in which we transport food for their enabled agency program for those agencies without a vehicle or assigned staff. Others organically arise out of shared dreams and goals, such as our work with CISA staff in our upcoming Hunger Awareness Artsfest (April 7 reception at Storrs Library, Longmeadow), teaching about food insecurity and facilitate student artmaking about the subject for understanding, conversation, and advocacy. In each, the outcome is greater together.
Most of all, we partner with you. You keep us going, as supporters in all ways. At our upcoming event – Bountiful Bowls: Growing Community Together, June 10, 2025, at the Marriott Hotel – we celebrate how you, our community, continues to grow to make a lasting impact in Western Massachusetts. You are a key partner and with you we will continue to grow in ways that serve our community with greater impact.
Thank you for being you. Here’s to a year where all are nourished, connected, and living with dignity. 
Jodi Falk
Executive Director