Western Mass. Anti-hunger Advocates Appear on Statewide TV Program

WALTHAM — Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Mass., and Frank Robinson, executive director of Partners for a Healthier Community in Springfield, recently joined physicians, fellow anti-hunger advocates from across the state, and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern as the guests on a television presentation on hunger in Massachusetts distributed on public-access stations across the state.

Morehouse and Robinson appeared in Hunger in the Commonwealth, a one-hour program designed to increase awareness about various aspects of the public-health problem of hunger in Massachusetts. The program was taped in July in a joint effort by McGovern, the Mass. Medical Society, and HCAM-TV, the public-access station serving the town of Hopkinton.

Besides creating awareness, the program describes the health implications of hunger, issues a call to action for people to help in the fight against hunger, and encourages eligible individuals and families to apply for food assistance programs offered by federal and state agencies.

Morehouse joined his colleagues from the state’s other three food banks — Catherine D’Amato of Greater Boston Food Bank, Jean McMurray of the Worcester County Food Bank, and Amy Pessia of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank — in a segment that describes the role of food banks in combating hunger. Robinson appears with representatives from the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities in a segment about individuals who work on the ‘front lines’ of hunger, directly assisting families and individuals. A third segment of the program examines the health implications of hunger and features physicians whose specialties are nutrition, child development and health.

Also appearing in the program are Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread; Dr. Bruce Auerbach, president of  the Mass. Medical Society; Dr. Deborah Frank, founder and director of the Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center; Dr. Edward Saltzman, chief of the division of clinical nutrition at Tufts Medical Center; Maureen Schnellman, senior director of Food and Nutrition Programs for the American Red Cross; and Beth Chambers, director of Community Services for Greater Boston Catholic Charities. The program is hosted by Dr. James Kenealy, a Framingham otolaryngologist active in the MMS.

Hunger in the Commonwealth is also available via webcast at hcam.tv/hunger, the online site of HCAM-TV.