Needham Resident Honored for Local Advocacy

June 29, 2026
• Marci Sindell, a member of the Greater Boston Food Bank’s board of directors, was recognized for her contributions to hunger relief at an award ceremony this month.

As she prepared for her bat mitzvah this spring, Marci Sindell said hunger was on her mind — not how she’ll feed guests after the ceremony, but how she can support her neighbors struggling with food insecurity.

In her work with the Greater Boston Food Bank, she learned just how prevalent the issue is in eastern Massachusetts: an estimated 40% of state households experience some level of food insecurity during the year, which is double the rate pre-covid, according to a GBFB study. Those who are food insecure don’t have reliable access to nutritious, adequate meals.

The Needham Community Council, one of the GBFB’s 600 partner agencies, receives about 8,000 lbs of food each month from the food bank. When Sindell, a Needham resident, previously donated food to the NCC, she gets a better picture of the need.

“It’s not easy to come to a food bank. A lot of people still feel a sense of shame in that, which is horrible, since there are so many people in need,” Sindell said. “It’s just so expensive to live here, so the more you can do to make it an experience that’s closer to shopping, that gets you the food you want, not just what you have, that becomes really important.”

For her bat mitzvah at Temple Beth Elohim, Sindell decided to create centerpieces made of nonperishable food items. She ended up donating 112 pounds of food to the NCC and collecting more than $7,000 in donations to the GBFB. But collectively, it’s just a small piece of Sindell’s impact.

On the GBFB board, Sindell secured $17 million in state funding and unlocked an additional $1 million from Mass General Brigham, leading the food bank to award her the Kip Tiernan Award, named after the organization’s founder.

Her individual and team efforts “brought visibility, resources [and] advocacy to the work that we do,” GBFB Chief Advancement Officer O’Neil Outar said.

“We’re so privileged to have someone like Marcy in our community, and with us in a fight that, unfortunately, we’re losing. We’re losing from the standpoint of the numbers have doubled in the last several years, and we’re doing everything we can, so we need everyone, all the Marcis of the world, on our side,” Outar said. “I find it a privilege to work with her as closely as I do in this work. She is very positive, very resourceful and very creative, so very much in the spirit of Kip Tiernan.”

Sindell insisted she was but “a catalyst” in the process — it’s about finding “a wedge” that opens the door for other connections and opportunities, she said.

Her former career as a senior healthcare executive came in handy. When a hospital pursues a capital project costing more than $25 million, some money must be set aside for community needs, Sindell explained, leading GBFB to connect with Mass General Hospital to access a $1 million grant.

“A lot of times, it’s not about necessarily donating the money yourself or just making a connection,” she said. “It’s making a connection to a path that leads to something, that leads to something.”

Food insecurity increasingly impacts the lower middle class, people who are college-educated and working and living in Metro West, “in these areas where we don’t think it exists,” Outar said. They’ve witnessed a heightened demand for perishable food and large-scale refrigeration that can accommodate those items, he said.

The NCC supports a commercial-grade freezer and refrigerator, thanks to a donation from a longtime volunteer and fundraiser. In the months since threats to SNAP, the NCC has seen use of its food pantry jump significantly. More than 400 Needham families rely on the pantry, as of January this year.

Veterans, seniors, single parents, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and more are all impacted by food insecurity, Sindell said. “It has many faces.”

Sindell first volunteered with GBFB in her 20s, sorting donated food in the warehouse. During the pandemic, she saw the organization’s distribution power nearly double, inspiring her to get involved. She joined the board in April 2021.

The food bank now supports the distribution of about 111 million pounds of food, according to its website.

Volunteering, fundraising, donating yourself — even $1 — makes a difference, Sindell and Outar said. Both referenced federal government cuts to food support, which means the need is even greater.

Outar encouraged people to support policies addressing food insecurity and related issues on the ballot and making the issue visible in one’s community.

“When you visit these agency partners in these communities, you recognize that these are many of the people who take care of our families and provide the services that make our communities so livable,” he said. “We don’t see these people necessarily going into the pantries, but that’s who they are. They’re people trying to live in our communities, and we want to support them as much as we can.”

Buying a cup of coffee or takeout is a privilege many in the Needham community have, but not all, Sindell said. A little goes a long way, she added, noting she’s proud of the impact she and the food bank have made together.

“It’s really been a joy to be involved with the Greater Boston Food Bank. I feel like I’m able to personally make an impact. I see how the food bank makes an impact, and I just work with the most wonderful, dedicated staff and volunteers to make it happen,” Sindell said. “It’s just great to see people coming together for such a wonderful cause, especially at a time when the federal government is cutting back on so many things that people need.”