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About Project Bread

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It's about more than food

Hunger happens when there isn’t enough money to pay for rent, childcare, or medications, and still have enough left over to buy groceries to last all week. 

We make it easier for people to access and afford food with dignity - money for groceries, healthy meals for kids in their schools and all summer long, an expert helping you navigate your options to finally make ends meet. 

Our Mission

Project Bread connects people and communities in Massachusetts to reliable sources of food while advocating for policies that make food more accessible—so that no one goes hungry.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Project Bread is committed to making sure that people in Massachusetts can afford enough to eat because hunger is an injustice. Hundreds of years of racist policies have made getting food more challenging for Black, Brown, immigrant, and Indigenous communities, causing the injustice that these identities experience hunger at higher rates. Project Bread must be proactive in fighting systemic racism and economic discrimination, and actively work to end racism and discrimination within systems and organizations, including laws and policies. We must engage voices of all identities in breaking down barriers to getting food.

We seek out the expertise of those who experience hunger and make sure those voices are at the center of Project Bread’s strategy, research, and programs. This is essential to our policy work to build a system based on equity so that everyone gets what they need to thrive.

We understand that our actions must match our words. Project Bread commits to these values as an anti-hunger nonprofit, as an employer, and as a member of the community.

We envision a Massachusetts where hunger is permanently solved for everyone.

We define ourselves as a food security organization because our work is preventative in nature. We're creating a sustainable, system-wide safety net in Massachusetts for anyone facing hunger.

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Supporting our Massachusetts community

Providing Reliable Access to Food

We focus on connecting people with federal nutrition programs—such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Breakfast Program, and the Summer Food Service Program (Summer Eats). These programs are uniquely reliable because they don’t rely on donations or volunteer availability. Instead, they provide stable, consistent support that families can count on month after month.

Through advocacy, program partnerships, and community outreach, we work to ensure that more households across Massachusetts can access these essential resources. We raise awareness, simplify enrollment, and make direct referrals so people can more easily benefit from the programs designed to support them.

By expanding access and increasing participation in these proven nutrition programs, we help reduce financial strain on families—so they can focus less on affording groceries and more on building healthy, stable lives.

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Advocating for Solutions

Creating effective & equitable policies

Ending hunger requires more than immediate food support — it requires lasting, systemic change. We identify policies and barriers that limit access to food and champion reforms that create equitable solutions for all communities.

We work to address inequities that disproportionately affect people of color, immigrant families, and households with limited economic resources. By shaping and advancing policies that remove these barriers, we help ensure that every family has reliable access to the nutrition they need — breaking cycles of poverty and generational hunger.

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Jen Lemmerman of Project Bread and Ayanna Pressley Starts Line

Feeding Kids

Helping children thrive

Every child deserves the chance to learn, grow, and thrive. That begins with reliable access to nutritious food.

We work to ensure that families across Massachusetts can connect to consistent, year-round meal programs that support children’s health and academic success. Through federal nutrition programs — the National School Breakfast & Lunch Program and Summer Food Service Program (Summer Eats) — we help create multiple, dependable opportunities for kids to get the food they need.

By partnering with schools and supporting school nutrition staff, we strengthen the systems that nourish children every day. When kids have access to reliable meals, they’re better able to focus in class, stay healthy, and build the foundation for a strong future.

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“Hunger in Massachusetts is simply unacceptable. This is a solvable problem, and all of us can do our part. When we all take action, we exercise our collective power.”

Erin McAleer, President, Project Bread

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Finding the Facts

Using data and research to inform our work

Project Bread believes in making equitable decisions based on comprehensive data — we center this by conducting our own analyses, research, and studies to inform our strategies.

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About Us

Reports & Financials

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Our Staff

Meet the Team

Staff, Board of Directors, & Advisory Council

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