Centre Street Food Pantry Announces New Distribution Programs To Reduce Local Food Insecurity
Collaboration with Partners Brings Food Deeper Into Communities It Serves
Newton, MA – August 25, 2025 –Centre Street Food Pantry, a nonprofit regional food relief agency that is open to residents of Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown and Wellesley, is proud to announce new distribution programs that will make food easier to access in the communities that it serves. In partnership with Healthy Waltham, Brandeis University’s Office of Student Support, and Family ACCESS, Centre Street will be bringing more food to residents of Waltham and Newton or anyone who relies upon these organizations.
Every month, Centre Street Food Pantry serves an average of 1,100 households that include over 4,000 people who visit their Newton location and bring home bags of fresh produce, dairy, eggs, frozen proteins and groceries. “The need is greater than this,” said Rose Saia, Centre Street’s Executive Director, “especially today with federal cuts to food programs combined with high costs of food and housing. Our challenge is to find ways to be more available to those in need, and I’m grateful that these program partners have given us a way to do so.”
The program partners include:
Healthy Waltham. Centre Street Food Pantry will be at Healthy Waltham’s August 28 pantry service on Cherry Street to offer an assortment of “back to school” Kids Club foods to approximately 400 families. Centre Street’s Kids Club program runs year round and provides all families with children a grocery bag of shelf-stable foods that kids like to eat for breakfast and lunch. The Kids Club Program adds a “fresh” bag in the summer that includes sandwich rolls, deli meats, cheese, milk, yogurt and fresh fruit so that all children have a nutritious lunch available at home. The Kids Club Fresh program will have provided 12,000 lunches to local children by the end of the summer.
Brandeis University Dean of Students Office. This Fall, Centre Street will be providing food to the on-campus food pantry which is available to any student and serves as a particularly important resource for graduate students and their families. Centre Street will provide shelf stable foods so that Brandeis student volunteers are able to stock the pantry, pack and distribute bags of food as needed.
Family ACCESS. In an ongoing partnership, Centre Street supplies shelf-stable food to Family ACCESS, a community-based non-profit organization that provides services and programs that promote working parents and promote effective parenting, early literacy, and school readiness skills. Family ACCESS’s clients can obtain the food onsite at its West Newton location and staff can bring essential food to clients on home visits. Family ACCESS works with clients in Newton, Waltham and surrounding communities.
About Healthy Waltham
Healthy Waltham’s mission is to promote collaborative approaches to improving the health and wellness of underserved and low-income populations through programs that increase access to healthy foods, provide nutrition education, and create opportunities for physical activity. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, its primary focus has been alleviating food insecurity by operating a twice monthly food pantry which serves 1,000 households outdoors at the Fitch School located 5 Cherry Street. It plans to open an indoor community market at 123 Felton Street at the beginning of 2026.
About Centre Street Food Pantry
Centre Street Food Pantry’s mission is to provide our communities with consistent and inclusive access to healthy food, with kindness and dignity. The nonprofit regional food relief agency is open weekly to assist residents of Brookline, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Watertown and Wellesley. Centre Street consistently provides a variety of fresh food and essential items to all who visit and has created special programs designed to meet the needs of senior citizens and children. For more information about these programs and others, as well as current initiatives, fundraising needs and news, please visit www.centrestfoodpantry.org or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
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Media Contacts:
Centre Street Food Pantry
Dan Foley
508-272-0017
dfoley@centrestfoodpantry.org
Healthy Waltham
BJ Osuagwe
Executive Director
(508) 282-7758
bj@healthy-waltham.org