Announcing Our Eco-Friendly, Energy Efficient Hub!

Food Link MA
3 min readApr 20, 2021
The front of Food Link’s new building, The Hub, with blue skies in the background.

In March, Food Link opened the doors to the Hub, located in Arlington, MA. It’s been a long journey since we purchased the building in 2018, and thanks to the support of people like you — donors, volunteers, community and mission partners, and more — more people in MA will access fresh food.

The Hub features a loading dock to accommodate large food deliveries, an indoor food sorting space for volunteers, and expanded cold storage, all of which enables us to rescue more food for people in need. Thanks to the accessible design of the building, including a ramp and a lift, we will be able to welcome an even wider range of volunteers and visitors.

The Hub is designed with the environment in mind. High R-value insulation and windows reduce energy consumption; the building is made of repurposed building materials and supplies; and solar panels, to be installed in the future, will offset the energy use of refrigeration.

Blue background with white text that reads: “We’ve operated out of a former diner, school basement, shoe repair shop and church sanctuary. Now we have our own place. And if there’s one thing that makes Food Link so powerful, it’s the culture of collaboration and never losing sight of the ultimate goal of getting food to the organizations and agencies serving families who need it. The Hub will only serve to foster an even greater sense of collaboration between leadership, staff and volunteers.”

Equipped with a new walk-in fridge and freezer, we donated our previous refrigeration and freezer units to local organizations and long-time Food Link partners. By giving these units a second life and avoiding waste, we are now able to deliver more meat, frozen products and dairy in our weekly deliveries, feeding more people in need!

We donated to the Tierney Learning Center in South Boston, which provides support to youth and families living in affordable housing; the Daybreak Shelter in Lawrence, which provides substance abuse education and support services; and the Eastern Service Workers Association in Dorchester, which provides necessary benefits to service and low-income workers in Boston.

Food Link’s loading dock and walk-in fridge unit

The support of our community has carried us from our humble beginnings in 2012, doing rescued food collection in Food Link founders DeAnne Dupont and Julie Kremer’s homes, to now, as we prepare to increase our capacity to rescue 2 million pounds of food annually. Once it is safe to do so, we look forward to welcoming you to the Hub to see first-hand what your contributions created!

To learn more about The Hub and all that we will accomplish in this new facility, please visit our Capital Campaign website for more information and to donate to our cause.

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