FOOD FOR TODAY: Meeting Mainers Where They Are

Our goal is to provide access to nutritious, culturally relevant food to Mainers experiencing hunger when and where they need it. Now, Mainers experiencing food insecurity can seek help in places that may be more accessible, places that are already a part of their lives and where they have existing relationships—like a community health center or at a school. Read on to see just a few examples of how we expanded food access in communities throughout the state.

MaineHealth Food Pantry Sites

Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Community Health and Hunger Program partners with 140 health care centers to connect patients experiencing food insecurity with the community resources and food they need to live healthier lives. By offering healthy, fresh food as a form of medicine, patients who are suffering from chronic diseases, or who may not otherwise have access to services, can make nutrition part of their routine health care.

Recently, we worked with our partner MaineHealth to open hospital-based food pantries—including at Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway and Maine Medical Center in Portland. In 2022, the pantry at the Stephens Memorial Hospital location kicked into high gear, providing nutritious meals to an average of over 60 households per month. The Maine Medical Center location has also been busy, despite only being open for a short time. On the first day alone, they welcomed 67 households, representing 112 individuals.

More than 80,000 Maine children

depend on the National School Lunch program during the school year. Despite the availability of funding from the USDA, only about 25 percent of those students receive meals during the long summer break, due to a variety of obstacles such as lack of awareness and inaccessible sites.

Summer Meal Sites in Bangor and Brewer

With one in six children facing food insecurity in Maine, we strive to meet the nutritional needs of Maine kids during the times they are most likely to experience hunger and offer support in a variety of places—including 220 school pantries, 29 Head Start programs, seven colleges, and over 10 summer and after-school meal sites.

Just having [the summer

meal program]

takes the pressure off my shoulders, even for just a minute. This helps in 800 different ways. The kids usually have breakfast and lunch at school but don’t during the summer.

— Susan, mother of students who attended a summer meal site in Brewer

Last year, four summer meal sites in Bangor and Brewer made sure that kids and their families could count on a healthy meal each day. This collaboration not only provided access to fresh, healthy food during the summer months—when many children lose access to the healthy food they need to thrive—but provided much more than food. It offered different activities every day, including yoga, nutrition education, and more.