Market 32 and Price Chopper Launch Drive to Support Local Food Pantries

08:18AM / Sunday, June 22, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As schools break for summer and access to daily meal programs pause, many families can face a critical gap in reliable nutrition.

To help meet these needs, Market 32 and Price Chopper are launching a summer food drive in all 129 stores across its six-state footprint.

From June 15 to July 5, customers can purchase a $10 bag containing PICS brand items that will be donated to a local food pantry. Each bag includes items food banks and pantries need the most, including a 16-ounce package of elbow macaroni, 16-ounce jar of peanut butter, a 10.5-ounce can of chicken noodle soup, 5-ounce can of tuna, 15.5-ounce can of kidney beans, and a 5-ounce can of chunk chicken.

Each Market 32 and Price Chopper store team will identify and coordinate directly with a local food pantry in their community that will receive the donated food, allowing shoppers to make an immediate impact and help pantries serve people right in their neighborhoods. The bags will be prominently displayed at the front of each store, accompanied by signage indicating the name of the pantry being supported.

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Pittsfield Remembers Lives Lost to Overdose, Underscores Harm Reduction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33AM / Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Mayor Peter Marchetti reads a proclamation at City Hall encouraging residents to raise awareness and lift each other up.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dozens of people gathered downtown on Monday to remember those lost to overdose and work toward a future of zero deaths from substance use disorder.

The Berkshire Overdose and Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its partners held a proclamation reading and flag-raising at City Hall, followed by a standout in Park Square with signs promoting the use of naloxone, harm reduction, and reducing associated stigma.

There were 23 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2025, 11 in Pittsfield. This is down 44 percent from the 41 countywide fatalities in 2024.

While it is a significant decrease, advocates want to see that number at zero.

"On the one hand, we're very pleased to see this significant of a decrease. This is actually the lowest number that we've had since [Department of Public Health] started collecting these numbers in 2013, but the goal is still zero," said Andy Ottoson, public health planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

August is International Overdose Awareness Month, the world's largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember those lost without stigma, and acknowledge the grief of families and friends left behind. September is National Recovery Month, a national observance to educate the public on the importance of substance use treatment and mental health services.

Samantha Kendall of Berkshire Harm Reduction explained that it is truly meeting people where they are, as they are, and when they are, "and I think we all do a really great job at that."

"We also want to remember that we're building a community for everybody, and systems and policies for everybody. That's really important in harm reduction work, so that's also the reason we're here today," she said.

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