HARPSWELL
Food insecure individuals and families in Harpswell will have a chance to locally access a food mobile pantry for the first time this month, thanks to the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program.
“Part of our strategic plan is to find ways to get more food out in the community we serve,” said MCHPP’s Director Ethan Minton on Wednesday.
MCHPP currently serves eight towns, including Brunswick, Harpswell, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham. Last year, the organization hosted a food mobile every month in the MCHPP parking lot in Brunswick. While some Harpswell residents were able to visit the truck at its Brunswick site, Minton noted that “transportation is a huge barrier.”
Harpswell Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said she had reached out to the organization after receiving a letter from a local resident in October who suggested the town set up a food pantry in town.
“I thought to get in touch with MCHPP instead of us putting together a bricks and mortar pantry,” Eiane said. “I said, ‘let’s talk about how we can do something in Harpswell.’”
MCHPP also partnered with Harpswell Community School to establish a Backpack Program, providing 18 students and their families with non-perishable groceries every weekend.
The food mobile pantry, supplied by Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, provides “one-stop shopping” for community members, said Minton.
“They can just bring it in and just set it up, and we don’t need significant infrastructure, just a big parking lot and central location,” he said. “We’re a partner agency, and Good Shepherd Food Bank has the truck and they assemble the food based on inventory, and either we pay or there’s funding.”
Minton noted that funding from the Doree Taylor Foundation will make the food mobile’s visit to Harpswell possible.
“One of the other barriers to access is stigma … but there’s no questions asked, no income or residency guidelines. If they come, they get food,” he added.
He noted that the Brunswick location has experienced success, drawing about 150-160 individuals to the mobile every month.
And while the need for donations is consistent throughout the year for organizations like MCHPP, Minton said one of the biggest challenges in the winter was getting fresh produce, as their mission revolves around providing access to healthy food.
“In the growing season, we have a great relationship with farmers, but (there’s) much less fresh produce in the winter,” he said.
Eiane hoped the presence of the program would continue to grow in Harpswell through the food mobile.
“I know it can be a tough time of the year, but we’re going to try it out and see how it works,” she said. “And we’ll probably try it again to see if we can build some momentum for it.”
The food mobile pantry will be stationed at the back parking lot of the Harpswell Town Office from 10-11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28.
dkim@timesrecord.com
Where & when
• THE FOOD MOBILE PANTRY will be stationed at the back parking lot of the Harpswell Town Office from 10-11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28.
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