Boston, MA (November 14, 2025) – Today, the Eos Foundation announced that it will be distributing $700,000 as communities across Massachusetts begin to recover from the freeze and reduction of SNAP benefits due to the recent government shutdown. Of that total, $125,000 will go to community partner organizations on Cape Cod to support individuals and families facing food insecurity and rising costs of living, especially during a challenging time of year with holidays approaching and reduced off-season work hours.

In partnership with The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), Eos will provide a total of:

• $625,000 in Stop & Shop gift cards distributed directly through GBFB to Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Worcester County Food Bank, Housing Assistance, The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, Lower Cape Outreach Council, Elder Services, and Falmouth Service Center.
• The Eos Foundation will also issue an additional $75,000 in operating and/or emergency assistance grants across the organizations listed above.

“This disruption of SNAP benefits has been a timely reminder of how food insecurity exists in our communities. This gift helps ease the hardship to our neighbors’ mental and physical health, financial stability, and ability to build momentum toward upward economic mobility,” said Andrea Silbert, President of the Eos Foundation. “We are making this gift because food insecurity plays an outsized role in widening socioeconomic gaps and we cannot allow any disruption – now or in the future – to set our residents back.”

“These generous donations from the Eos Foundation will be a lifeline to people across Massachusetts who are facing hunger,” said Governor Maura Healey. “It’s great to see this model on the Cape to reach home bound seniors who might not be able to get to a food pantry. I’m grateful to Andrea Silbert and every person and organization in Massachusetts who has stepped up to help our neighbors in need during this challenging time.”

More than 1.1 million Massachusetts residents rely on SNAP benefits, many of whom are children, people with disabilities, and senior citizens. The GBFB’s 2025 Food Access Study revealed that 37% of households faced food insecurity the year prior. Very low food insecurity – the most severe form, occurring when an individual must skip meals or not eat for the entire day because they don’t have enough money for food – reached 24% in 2024, compared to 6% in 2019.

“We are grateful to the Eos Foundation for supporting our clients during this time of overwhelming need caused by the delay of SNAP benefits this November,” said Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank. “Generous gifts like this will help meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. In this protracted period of uncertainty and reduced federal funding, philanthropic support is a lifeline for our clients. We encourage other foundations to consider similar gifts to try to close the enormous financial gap which cannot be filled without additional support.”

Eos has been engaged in combatting hunger in Massachusetts for many years, particularly through its Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) grant initiative and annual School Breakfast Report Card, which ranks the state’s high-poverty schools on their breakfast participation rate for the previous academic year. The 2025 School Breakfast Report Card will be released next week. This month, Silbert escorted Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler to observe Breakfast in the Classroom at an elementary school in Springfield. With the support of the Eos Foundation over the past 12 years, the district has become a national model for feeding students breakfast at school, serving 88% of students breakfast in the classroom each day, doubling participation since 2015.

To help other districts across the Commonwealth implement this model, the Eos Foundation is providing grant opportunities up to $20,000 per school to transition from breakfast before the bell in the cafeteria to BIC.