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Help Local People
EVERY YEAR for the last two years,The Open Door has met a 30% increase in requests for food assistance, helping MORE people than we did at the height of the pandemic.
In 2024, we distributed 2.35 MILLION pounds of food (or 1.96 million meals) to 11,893 people (5,320 households) during 100,775 visits. That was 2,057 MORE people than we served in 2023.
In 2025, we continue to keep pace with the need in our community. Shannon*, age 36, is a single mom who recently came to The Open Door for the first time.
“I feel like I have to burn myself out working just to have the minimum,” she says.
Shannon is on the cusp of earning her associates degree and has been a waitress for 16 years. A single mom, she has two teenagers, one of whom has special needs and is nonverbal. They're barely scraping by.
“They’re teenagers-- they’re hungry,” Shannon says. “I have a disabled daughter. Her medication makes her hungry. She’s hungry all the time.”
Shannon says she even hides the snacks and juice boxes she gets for her teens in the truck of her car or in their mud room, so that her teens’ friends don’t drink or eat them when visiting on the weekend. It’s just too expensive.
“I’m one person,” she says. “Right now, I need help. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m trying to breathe."
Can YOU help local people like Shannon in hard times?
DONATE TODAY!
THANK YOU!
The Open Door is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations and contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law. If you prefer to mail a check, please remit to The Open Door, 28 Emerson Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930
*Shannon's name has been changed to protect her privacy.