Boston, MA (November 13, 2025) – The Eos Foundation today 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:

• $575,000 in Stop & Shop gift cards and grants to The Greater Boston Food Bank, Merrimack Valley Food Bank, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and Worcester County Food Bank, and
• $125,000 in Stop & Shop gift cards and emergency grants a unique partnership with the Housing Assistance Corporation, The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, Lower Cape Outreach Council, Elder Services, and Falmouth Service Center.

“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.”

The Eos Foundation’s investment in hunger relief across Massachusetts is exactly the kind of compassionate, collaborative action that makes Massachusetts strong. By partnering with The Greater Boston Food Bank and community-based organizations to get gifts cards directly into the hands of our most vulnerable residents and those may not be able to get to food access sites, they’re helping to ensure our neighbors have access to food during this challenging time,” said Governor Maura Healey. “I thank the foundation and its leadership them for their commitment to fighting hunger and supporting our fellow residents in need.”

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 grant initiative and annual School Breakfast Report Card, which ranks the state’s high-poverty school 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 87% of students breakfast in the classroom each day, nearly 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.