Salem High School Culinary Students Open Black Cat Food Pantry for Food Insecure Students
Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program Donates $7,500 to help launch and sustain
SALEM (Feb. 5, 2026) – Food insecurity is real and seemingly everywhere.
Salem High School Culinary Arts department students, with a boost from the Stop & Shop Supermarkets Food Pantry Program, decided to do something about it. In their own school, no less.
On Wednesday afternoon, SHS Lead Culinary Instructor and Career Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator Jeff Stuart hosted a ‘family dinner’ to celebrate the opening of the Black Cat Food Pantry, located on the first floor outside the Black Cat Bistro restaurant and the Culinary Arts program facilities.
February happens to be Career Technical Education Month throughout schools across the country, and thus aligns with Wednesday’s opening.
“I’m proud of our students for taking an active role in supporting our community,” said Mr. Stuart. “The Black Cat Pantry allows them to apply their skills in a meaningful way, ensuring that no student has to face hunger alone. It’s a truly rewarding experience to see them make a difference.
“This means a lot to me personally,” Mr. Stuart added. “I did not come from an affluent family. Therefore giving back to the kids is huge for us as well as the students.”
Culinary students will be cooking for their classmates, designing the menus, and setting pricing among other tasks involved with the Pantry. “There are so many things they’re going to learn from doing an event like this,” Mr. Stuart said.
To help fund the initiative, the Stop & Shop School Food Pantry Program donated $7,500 and a commercial grade refrigerator to the Culinary Arts program.
“We are always looking for creative ways to partner with local schools to fight hunger,” said Stephanie Cunha, Manager of External Communications and Community Relations for Stop & Shop. “This program is unique because it both gives Salem’s culinary students hands-on, real world experience while empowering them to make a meaningful difference in their community. We are thankful to partner with Chef Stuart who shares our mission to ensure no student goes to school hungry and we look forward to working with the school for the years to come.”
Not only will SHS culinary arts students prepare nutritious, ready-to-eat meals for classmates in need, the Pantry will stock essential items such as hygiene products, fresh produce, and other necessities determined collaboratively to best meet student needs.
The Black Cat Food Pantry will open on Fridays for students to have easy access to microwaveable meals they can bring home for the weekends.
Like Mr. Stuart, culinary arts seniors Ava Valmond and Cesar Mesa both echoed how personal the Food Pantry opening was. “I’m very excited to be able to represent my classmates, especially those who don’t have a way to express themselves,” Mr. Mesa noted. “I want to thank Stop & Shop for executing this. It means a lot to make this community stronger and tighter.”
Ms. Valmond is hoping to continue culinary arts studies at Johnson & Wales University, while Mr. Mesa hopes to pursue business management (and play football) at Curry College.
“I’ve been really proud of all of our CTE programs, in particular this one and the growth that it’s had, but this takes it a step further,” said SHS Principal Glenn Burns. “There are so many of our families in need of support, and looking for that little push to get over a barrier, and this is one of those pieces to the puzzle that will support our families. We want to be able to support our whole community and our students to reach their dreams and goals and not worry about food insecurity.”
Joining Mr. Burns was SPS Superintendent, Dr. Stephen Zrike, who lauded Stop & Shop’s generosity and the culinary arts program’s initiative; as well as Meghan Sousa, College and Career Center Director; and Lynne Mullen, SHS Assistant Principal.
Ms. Cunha was among several Stop & Shop representatives on hand, joining Shannon Karafian, Stop & Shop’s School Food Pantry Program Manager; Dominique Gabriel, Store Manager of the Stop & Shop’s Peabody location; Cindy Sailer, Charitable Giving and Community Relations Specialist; and Maura O’Brien, Government Affairs Manager.
Also on hand were Grace Rapisarda, LICSW, and Alex Uhl, a District Aide, both representing Congressman Seth Mouton’s office; as well as Alyssa Jacob, Account Executive from US Foods.
SHS’s CTE Month of events continues Wednesday, Feb. 11 with the Business and Industry Career Panel from 12:30-1:30.
About Salem Public Schools
Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Massachusetts, a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens through which we view our work. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff unconditionally serves each of our 4,000 students across 11 schools regardless of ability or language.
