Jeff Hayward of the United Way (left), Carlos Mangual of Goya Foods (middle), and Tan Shu, a student at Boston University (right), help sort donations at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury on March 16. (Media Credit/John Mottern)

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Goya Foods donated 75,000 pounds of food to 10 Greater Boston food pantries earlier this month, providing enough food to feed 60,000 needy families.

Goya’s donations to local food banks in Boston, Chelsea, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn and Quincy on March 16 were part of a larger initiative, the Goya Gives campaign, in which Goya and the United Way donated one million pounds of food across the nation, enough to feed three million people. The company’s philanthropy also extended to other parts of the world, with the donation of 75,000 pounds of food sent to troops serving overseas and 100,000 cans of coconut water sent to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Robert Unanue, president of Goya Foods, said, “Giving has always been an integral part of our culture, so as we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we wanted to give back to the communities that have always supported us. At a time when millions of Americans are facing food insecurity, this donation reinforces our commitment to aiding in the fight against hunger, so we thank United Way for helping us execute this day of giving.”

At Roxbury’s Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center, student volunteers from the Boston area took part in an “alternative spring break,” helping Goya and United Way unload, sort and distribute the donated food to pantries.

For more information on the Goya Gives campaign and to donate to the United Way, go to www.goyagives.org.

Tis still the season to be giving, even if the holidays are long gone. The Greater Boston Food Bank named January “Super Hunger” month. This is the time of year where many Massachusetts residents have to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table. Even now, more people are suffering from the economical climate than the meteorological climate. 

"Right now, the members of the hunger relief agency are serving 11 percent more clients,” said Food Bank spokeswoman Stacy Wong. “The need is up. We are in a recovery period; however, there is no job growth so there are a lot of families in need."

Statistics show the Greater Boston Food Bank distributes around 600,000 pounds of food to more than 83,000 people each week. They rely on nothing but the generosity of tens of thousands of financial and food donors every year. Fourteen thousand volunteers each year go around to communities from Boston to Framingham; Haverhill to New Bedford; Cape Ann to Cape Cod.

The amount of work that goes into feeding families in need is inspiring. Unfortunately, a recent US Department of Agriculture report shows that more than 8 percent of all households in Massachusetts are suffering from "food insecurity," meaning they lack access to sufficient amounts of nutritious food. The Food Bank reveals a strong relationship between hunger and job performance, and both are constantly affecting each other in the inverse as well.

"This is a great time of need," said Wong, "and we are telling everyone that they can give whatever they are comfortable with giving. Money, time or food. It takes a lot to feed 80,000 people a week"

The Greater Boston Food Bank accepts money, however small an amount. For every dollar you donate, the Food Bank can distribute $4 worth of food. So every little contribution counts for a lot.

And, of course, you can donate food.

You can also volunteer and help distribute food amongst the areas in need.  One of the best ways to contribute is to host a fundraiser or a food drive.  All the proceeds go to helping the hungry men, women and children of Massachusetts.

"I know without (the Greater Boston Food Bank), people would not be able to make it," said Jack Nolan, Acquisition and Distribution manager for the Pine Street Inn, a homeless shelter. "They are a great organization. I know there are people looking for eggs, cereal, meats, peanut butter, and the Food Bank provides that."

This is your chance to make a difference in your community. The Greater Boston Food Bank invites everyone to contribute in their own way. No matter how small a donation seems to you, it is a great gesture of generosity to your community. It will mean so much to so many in this struggling economy. Log on to gbfb.org to learn how your donation can change someone’s life.

TORONTO — Here is the third edition of the Terra Podcast, where Blast’s world news reporter Sachin Seth visits a food bank and learns about the people who work and are served there.

Many Food Banks around North America are in dire straits. Since the recession set in, many are finding it harder and harder to secure donations from those hit hard by the global economic downturn.

In major cities like Toronto, food banks have seen close to a 30 per cent increase in clients, but no major increase in donations. Those in need of food are turned away near closing time because supplies run out.

William Shane, a board member at Fort York Food Bank, one of the largest in Toronto, says he’s seen an almost 200 per cent increase in food hampers requested in just five years. The majority of that increase has come since 2007 – the beginning of the recession.

Fort York is by no means a spacious food bank. It’s one of the largest in Toronto in terms of population served, however not in terms of space. Still, Shane tells me it costs more than $90,000 just to keep the lights and heat running. That money comes primarily from donations, save for a small stipend from their mother company that amounts to just a few thousand per year.

Almost one third of Toronto’s entire population visits a food bank every year, an astonishingly large number for a developed North American metropolis. But if you look around, numbers in other major cities across Canada and the U.S. aren’t far off.

I went to Fort York with many questions in an effort to find out how the food bank copes with such large demand. But instead of coming away with answers, I quickly fell in love with the men and women who work there. Their pasts, in some cases heartbreaking, and their ambition, in some cases inspiring.

This is the story of three of the selfless women I met who turned their lives around to give back to the community.

This is the story of Trudy, Janice and Liz.