Capital Campaign Launches!
Click the image for information on The Campaign, and to find out how you can be involved in this remarkable community effort.
Curious to see the NSC in action? Watch our new video below!
Welcome to the Northampton Survival Center from The Northampton Survival Center on Vimeo.
Many thanks to the following for the creation of this video: Claudia Levin, Monadnock Media, Julie Akeret, Akeret Films, Kate Geis, Tricia Reidy, Rikk Desgres, Pinehurst Pictures & Sounds.
November 2009 marks the NSC's 30th Anniversary!
Click on our 30th anniversary logo to find out how you can help us celebrate!
A simple desire to help others brings about an inspiring major donation to the Northampton Survival Center
An unpretentious neighbor who lives a simple life has given the Northampton Survival Center an unprecedented gift of $200,000 in honor of his parents. The gift will go toward a much-needed renovation and expansion at the Northampton Survival Center.
Richard Moodie, 60, grew up in Northampton, attended schools here and worked for 21 years as a manual laborer – in the kitchen, dish room, bedpan room and housekeeping departments – at the Northampton State Hospital. He retired in 1992 shortly before the hospital closed and has lived his whole life with his parents, Eben and Jane Moodie, in the house where he was raised. When his father died in April 2008, he decided it was time to spread his wings and make an impact on his community. “I live in this community, and I wanted to give back to it. I see the problems this city has, and I wanted to act on them. I hope this donation makes other people think about how they can help, not just looking for the city to take care of everything. Even if they can’t give $200,000, people should still think about what they can do to help,” he said.
Several years ago, Richard volunteered at the Northampton Survival Center helping stock the emergency food pantry, and he remembered what he saw. Prior to his most recent gifts, he had reached out with smaller financial gifts to the NSC through local businesses. A lifelong member of Edwards Church, he was sitting with Carl Erickson, a board member of the Northampton Survival Center, and wondering how to broach the subject of a major gift. Then Carl told Richard about the need for a renovation and expansion at the Center. Richard decided to help launch the effort with a $200,000 gift, hoping to inspire others to contribute as well.
Richard’s donation, the biggest in the Center’s 30-year history, comes at an opportune time. Having just negotiated a fresh, 30-year lease at its city-owned site at 265 Prospect Street, the NSC board has already been hard at work in planning an expansion and renovation to increase the impact of the organization. Miriam Krell Bourke, President of the Northampton Survival Center’s Board of Directors, says, “Mr. Moodie’s gift is a perfect fit for where the organization is headed. We already have a team of professionals and volunteers working on a new design for the Center and finalizing negotiations with the city about additional space.”
According to Executive Director Heidi Nortonsmith, the Center has three main goals for the proposed expansion. “In looking ahead to what our clients will need over the next 30 years, we want to be able to provide people with more food, maximize our ability to serve clients with dignity and respect, and improve the Center’s efficiency and comfort for the thousands of people we serve and the hundreds of volunteers who make this work possible.”
Richard himself was deeply touched to learn only after he made his gift that his parents had also made two donations to the Northampton Survival Center in the 1990s. He felt a connection to his parents in these gifts that he never dreamed existed, and a tacit blessing of his decision. A very private and unassuming man, Richard prefers not to be interviewed about this gift directly. For more information, the Northampton Survival Center respectfully requests that members of the media contact Executive Director Heidi Nortonsmith. Board member Miriam Krell Bourke is also available for interview.
Despite having made a major donation that will change lives throughout Hampshire County for years to come, Richard seeks no public recognition for himself with this gift. Instead, he hopes his gift will inspire and motivate others in the community to think about how they can help people who are struggling in this time of great need.
Generous donation from William A. Berry & Son transforms garage space
Recently, the City of Northampton graciously extended to the Northampton Survival Center the use of an additional garage space, adjacent to our existing food pantry, and committed its support to the Center in the form of a 30-year lease at our Prospect Street home. Then, the construction firm of William A. Berry & Son stepped in to coordinate and manage an amazingly generous donation to make the space usable. With the help of its local sub-contractors, Berry rehabilitated the space by insulating the ceiling, adding lighting, repairing the garage doors and windows, and painting the walls, transforming it into a 400-square foot food storage area. While this addition doesn’t solve our space and storage issues, it did allow us to run our annual Post Office Food Drive right on-site for the first time ever, enabling us to receive, inspect, sort, and distribute the donated food all from one location! Thanks to William A. Berry & Son, and the City of Northampton, for generously working with us to get this food into the hands of people who so desperately need it from a space that’s familiar and safe for our clients and volunteers.
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Welcome
The Northampton Survival Center is an emergency food pantry which provides low-income individuals and families in 16 communities in Hampshire County with free food, clothing, household goods, and referrals for emergency assistance. From its main location in Northampton, the Center distributes about 2,000 pounds of food in nutritionally-balanced food boxes every weekday.
From its Hilltown Pantry in Goshen, the NSC distributes another 40,000 pounds of food each year in the seven northern hilltowns. All together, from its two locations, the NSC distributes over 510,000 pounds of food to our neighbors in need each year!
