iStock illustration

Ware-based Country Bank has declared it will donate $1 million to a pair of food banks covering the Worcester area and Western Massachusetts.

The Worcester County and Western Mass Food Banks will each receive $500,000.

The bank announced its donations at its annual meeting at Worcester’s Polar Park on June 21. The news was broken when newly appointed Country Bank board members Elizabeth Cohen-Rappaport, Richard H. Maynard, Ross Dik and Stacey Luster surprised both Andrew Morehouse, executive director of The Food Bank of Western Mass and Jean McMurray, executive director of the Worcester County Food Bank with checks for the donations, the bank said.

“As a community partner, we care deeply about the sustainability of our communities and the people who live in them. In recognizing the burdens that many have experienced throughout this past year, Country Bank is throwing hunger a curve ball,” Country Bank President and CEO Paul Scully said in a statement.

The bank gave away over $1 million last year to support local food pantries, homeless shelters, COVID relief services, veterans and other programs in the communities it serves.