MANCHESTER – The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, announced Friday it had received a $50,000 grant from the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation to help it purchase food to support the growing need due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant is part of a $3 million commitment the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is making to targeted nonprofits focused on COVID-19 relief. This is, in turn, is part of a more than $10 million commitment Eastern Bank has made to aid individuals and families, small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by the coronavirus.

“The New Hampshire Food Bank wants to assure those in need we are here for them in this time of crisis and we are tremendously grateful for this generous support from Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation,” said Eileen Liponis, executive director, New Hampshire Food Bank. “Our mission is to provide food and resources to the hundreds of thousands of New Hampshire residents who are food insecure, and this critical funding will have a major impact on our statewide efforts.”

Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation’s COVID-19 relief is helping communities across New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island with grants supporting regional community organizations’ assistance; as well as nonprofit partners providing relief in food security, support to small businesses with a focus on small businesses of color and across the community health care system. The commitment is in addition to the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation’s already-planned $10 million in community support for 2020.

The New Hampshire Food Bank is among more than 80 food banks receiving a grant to support their efforts to address the barriers caused by school closures, day care shutdowns and other situations leaving many children, adults, elders and families without healthy food and adequate nutrition. Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation is granting $500,000 total to local food banks across the region, many of whom Eastern Bank has partnered with to assist individuals and families in the past.

“We know that providing support at a local level and across our region is critical to meeting the challenges today and those that lay ahead – from maintaining the resiliency, health, and well-being of people in our communities to helping small businesses experiencing severe hardships,” said Nancy Huntington Stager, president and CEO of Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation. “We also want to assure our community partners that we’re here to support them going forward, that we will continue our Community Donation program for nonprofit partners even as their normal operations are being upended. We encourage all companies and foundations to join us in increasing their funding at this time of crisis.”