FARMINGTON – Local schools are taking up the fight against hunger this month, through a program with the Good Shepherd Food Bank that will allow the distribution of fresh produce and nutritional food once a month.
W.G. Mallett School and Strong Elementary School are both recipients of grants from Good Shepherd, enabling the delivery of supplies from their Auburn location on the third Wednesday of each month. The food is provided to families in Mt. Blue Regional School District and MSAD 58 families at each school, respectively, at no cost.
Katie Hallman, a school nurse at Mallett and Cascade Brook School, originally had thought to apply for a backpack grant through Good Shepherd, but was later informed that the school could instead receive funds through a new program designed to utilize schools to distribute food in rural portions of the state. In MBRSD, Good Shepherd is providing between $6,000 and $8,000 worth of food for one year, Hallman said, depending on the turnout.
“I know we have kids here that are hungry,” Hallman said, “and I wanted to come up with a way to give them some food.”
MSAD 58 received the same grant, and is running its program out of Strong Elementary School.
Free produce, which on Wednesday was tomatoes, onions and potatoes but will vary month to month, is provided free of charge. Volunteers have also put together bundles of non-perishable food, such as canned fruit, pasta, milk products, cereal and healthy snacks. Hallman has also arranged for toothbrushes to be given away, and is working with groups such as the Maine Dairy Council to provide more nutritional information to visitors.
The new food closets opened Wednesday with little fanfare, as a sort of trial run, but intend to run every third Wednesday, after school hours at 3:20 p.m. Food that isn’t donated Wednesday, Hallman said, would be delivered to other local closets, such as Care & Share Food Closet in Fairbanks, to avoid any waste.
The grant funding is good for a year, Hallman said. After that, the programs will need to look for local, private funding to keep the food closets in operation.
Sounds wonderful for the families and kids. Many sure do need that help. Hope they are not shy about receiving it. Toilet paper would be a good item as well.
Laundry detergent, face soap,body wash, and animal food are always a super nice donations.