By Anjali Byju
At the Neighbors in Need pantry, the line stretched out the door.
Dalia DeLeon picked up a gallon of milk and filled her green tote with staples, while her son carried a box of chocolate chip muffins. Other people in line asked volunteers for multiple cartons of eggs, though only one is allowed for each family.
This outreach on a fall afternoon is one way Andover is tackling a troubling problem in town, said Meredith Moody, who is leading a coalition helping to eradicate food insecurity in Andover.
“The eggs sort of break the ice and let (families) know that we love them,” said Moody. “A warm smile and a hand outstretched with something good for them cuts into the shame a little bit.”
In 2024, the median household income in Andover was $178,179.
A lesser known data point is that 9 percent of Andover residents are food insecure. That’s over 3,000 Andoverites who lack access to sufficient and nutritious foods to meet their basic needs, as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This staggering statistic, introduced last year by the Social Justice Coalition of South Church, remains a reality in Andover that Moody and others are working to change.
“We were stunned (when we learned about Andover’s food insecurity problem),’’ Moody said. “Right away, we thought, we need to do something about this.”
Over the past years, they have been connecting low-income families to local food pantries, increasing food assistance and linking residents to nonprofits that can help them. There are now two social workers at the town senior center who can help people apply for food assistance.
Other Andover groups also have been tackling the issue, such as through an always-open food pantry at Ballardvale United Church on Clark Road. That 24-hour self-serve pantry and fridge, managed by Village Food Hub, was founded in 2022.
The Social Justice Coalition at South Church was founded in 2017. The group operated independently with a specific focus on reforming the criminal justice system.
“When we first started out, we (gave) quite a bit of attention on racial justice,’’ said Moody. “(We decided) that people needed to realize that we had white privilege, and that is very often uncomfortable for people… We wanted to stir the pot up for people to know there is a problem.”
Three years later, the Social Justice Coalition was formally accepted as part of the church.
“The Social Justice Coalition came in as they helped people realize that we can do this work and have these conversations in a very positive way, without any negative feelings or behaviors,” said Andover resident Ellen Townson.
Moody, a 69-year-old retired manager of a home medical equipment company, has been a lifelong member of the church. She said she got involved in social justice work as a calling from her faith and after retirement granted her more free time.
“Sometimes it’s scary, but most of the time it’s exciting to work with people for some social good,” said Moody. “We have courage together where we might not individually.”
The coalition began focusing on food insecurity three years ago when Townson pointed out Andover’s own problems at a church meeting.
Townson, who is the clerk for Andover’s Select Board, co-heads the Food Insecurity Team with Moody.
Townson said she became aware of food insecurity when she served on the board that runs Andover’s farmers market and found the lack of vendors that accept the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program disheartening.
“We needed to educate our community,’’ Townson said in an interview. “That’s what food insecurity in Andover looks like. It looks like you, it looks like your neighbor next door and your sister or your mother.”
Since then, the coalition has been disseminating thousands of information cards about food insecurity in the Andover area. Advocates have also been educating the public about SNAP, which helps supplement grocery budgets for low-income families.
Only half of eligible Andover locals are enrolled to receive these benefits, according to the coalition’s findings.
Many people neglect signing up for SNAP due to shame while some residents fear losing Medicaid after disclosing their income on the application, Moody said.
The coalition has been helping residents fill out the tedious, 17-page application. It also helped get two Andover Senior Center social workers certified in SNAP assistance to work with residents who might be struggling with the application process.
The coalition is also notifying families that Project Bread, a Boston-based nonprofit, can also help them fill out SNAP applications in their own language. Project Bread has counselors that can translate in 170 languages.
Currently, the SNAP application only comes in 13 languages while over 50 are spoken across Andover homes.
Food pantries are also seeing more people in need of assistance.
Shari McLeod, program coordinator at the Village Food Hub, said she started the pantry and food rescue program alongside her husband in 2022. The organization is funded by donations and grants.
The community fridge it runs moves an average of 2,500 pounds of food monthly in the Merrimack Valley, McLeod said. The Food Rescue Program collects and redistributes extra food from local restaurants and farmers to reduce food waste.
McLeod said people from various backgrounds use the pantry. Doctors sometimes refer their patients to the Hub after medical bills and medication costs have left them hungry and out of work, she added.
“I would love for people to think about it as a true reflection of neighbors helping neighbors,’’ said McLeod. “And I think (at) this time, there’s so much (difficulty) in the world that if we can look out for each other. It makes a huge difference and that’s what we’re trying to do,” said McLeod.
The South Church coalition’s Neighbors in Need food pantry is held every Thursday and serves more than 100 people at South Church on Central Street.
On one fall afternoon, volunteers handed out half-cartons of eggs, boxes of muffins and fliers in both Spanish and Mandarin.
Each person in line received a ticket. Many people waited patiently for their numbers to be called, while talking with one another. Some seemed surprised they could apply for SNAP benefits.
This story was published as part of a collaboration between the nonprofit Andover News Service and the Department of Journalism in Boston University’s College of Communication. The student journalist is a member of Professor Meghan E. Irons’s Reporting in Depth class.