March for the Food Bank: Feeding Families in Western Mass
By Melissa Karen Sances
Published in Northampton Living | November 2025
Bert and Ernie, Julia Child and Mister Rogers will lace up for the 16th annual March for the Food Bank on November 24 and 25. This year’s theme is “Icons of Public Broadcasting,” and the colorful host of New England Public Media’s “The Fabulous 413” and the man behind the march, Monte Belmonte, will honor television’s legends by dressing accordingly.
Belmonte will push an empty shopping cart from Springfield to Greenfield surrounded by a band of generous misfits including his friend Sean Barry, who owns Four Seasons Wine & Liquor in Hadley, and Congressman Jim McGovern. The goal is to raise $650,000 for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
The fundraiser, originally called “Monte’s March,” began when the organization—which provides the equivalent of more than 14 million meals per year—asked Belmonte to “dream up a publicity stunt” on their behalf. The empty cart represents “the idea that a lot of people don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” he explains. The march now spans 43 miles over two days.
Capes and Capers
The first year, not knowing how far he could walk in one day, Belmonte donned appropriate shoes and pushed the cart alongside the radio station van for WRSI “The River,” where he worked for 20 years, stopping along the way to call in his progress. Each year the march grew exponentially, he says, but when McGovern joined the cause in 2013, “all of a sudden it became this event that nobody could ignore.”
During the third march, Massachusetts Renaissance Faire actors rode in on horseback like knights in shining armor, bequeathing a cape to Belmonte. In subsequent years, he was inspired to march as the Statue of Liberty, Weird Barbie, and Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked.
A Serious Issue
“Food insecurity is a serious issue, but I appreciate the fun that’s infused into this event while we’re doing something that’s really important,” says Jillian Morgan, the Food Bank’s Director of Development and another loyal marcher.
She stresses that inflation has put a strain on vulnerable families, and notes that the reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 makes devastating cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which currently serves 194,000 Massachusetts residents.
“For every meal the Food Bank provides, SNAP provides nine,” she says. “We will do everything we can to make up the difference, but that will require more funding.”
To help, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has created an Anti-Hunger Task Force, and Belmonte will host five listening sessions for leaders in the administration this month.
Up Close and Personal
Belmonte says that people can get involved with the march by starting a team, walking virtually, or making a pledge to NEPM or WRSI. While some impassioned marchers have told him horror stories about lost toenails, he is proud that he has never gotten a mere blister—even in cowboy boots.
“Because we want people to join, they don’t have to walk the whole time,” says Morgan reassuringly. “It can be painful but it's always gratifying, and it’s a great way to see our community up close.”
For more information, visit foodbankwma.org/events.
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