As the last leaves cling to the trees, awaiting just the right moment to be swept away, we find ourselves in the midst of another holiday season. It’s a time for celebrating with our loved ones over delicious foods, and for reflecting on all that we are grateful for. However, it’s also a time to remember that, for many of our neighbors, the additional financial burden associated with these celebrations, and winter more generally, can be an enormous source of stress.
With the steadfast support of countless volunteers, donors, and partners, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program is able to reduce some of that burden by providing everyone in our community with access to the food they need to nourish their families.
This year, MCHPP again provided two options for families who wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with a traditional meal. For the second year, the soup kitchen served a hot to-go meal on Thanksgiving Day for folks without the interest, ability, or facilities to cook. This included dozens of meals delivered to area seniors with limited mobility or lack of transportation.
For families who wanted to prepare their own Thanksgiving meal, our food pantry distributed Thanksgiving meal kits through the first three weeks of November. Kits included organic, locally grown carrots and butternut squash, potatoes, canned corn and green beans, as well as boxed stuffing and gravy mixes. Each kit also included a $10 grocery gift card for families to buy a turkey, ham, or other main course for their celebrations.
With food costs higher than ever, these kits help provide a meal that feels out of reach for so many this year. One pantry guest shared with our volunteers that they, “were planning on eating something cheap, hotdogs or hamburgers maybe.” They continued by noting, “You don’t know how much it means to have a real turkey this year.”
Generous funding from residents in Topsham’s Highland Green neighborhood and 600 gift cards from the Albertson Companies Foundation made this year’s efforts possible. We filled the kits with 4,800 pounds of carrots from Crystal Spring Farm (Brunswick), 8,000 pounds of butternut squash from Six River Farm (Bowdoinham), as well as 6,000 pounds of potatoes from Good Shepherd Food Bank and dry goods purchased from various retailers.
Although there’s not much time to slow down at MCHPP these days, we want to take this moment to extend our gratitude to the entire mid coast community for allowing us to feed you for nearly 40 years. We send warm wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season from our MCHPP family to yours.
You can find additional information about accessing food or making a contribution to support this work on our website, mchpp.org.
Giving Voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community.
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