SACO — Family Eye Care is accepting food donations until July 31 for the Saco Food Pantry and offering discounts on eyeglasses to those who donate.

Since June 1, patients have been able to bring nonperishable food to Family Eye Care’s office. Dr. Juliann Kandra, owner of the practice, said that those who bring in 10 items receive a 30 percent discount on eyeglasses.

Kandra said she decided to do the drive during June and July because that is when the Saco Food Pantry needed the most donations.

“I went to the food pantry because I wanted to find out, you know, what time of year they are in need more than others,” she said. “Because everyone remembers in December. We wanted to do a drive in a month where they particularly needed more help.”

John White, Saco Food Pantry’s operations manager, said that summer can be especially hard for some children.

“Kids are out of school,” he said. “They need something to eat. They’re not getting food at school.”

White said he’s been delivering food to some recently-started food donation programs specifically aimed for students in Saco.

An example of a program the food pantry has been assisting, White said, is the Locker Project, a Portland-based program dedicated to helping food-insecure students.

Since February, Katie Brown, co-founder of the Locker Project, has been replicating the program in York County, and recently, they changed the name to Youth Full Maine. These kinds of food programs take a lot of stress off the students and their schools, she said.

“One thing for sure is that all of the school staff are so relieved to have this option for students,” Brown said. “It makes them rest easier. They go home worrying about their students who don’t have anything to eat.”

Brown added that community outreach is one of the best ways to help.

“We would love to see individuals and groups to come up with some food drives with us,” Brown said. “So much of our budget is based on food donations. They can volunteer at our produce distributions and help destigmatize the taking of food. We don’t want children to feel ashamed if they need food. We want them to have enough food so they can study hard.”

Kandra said that she hopes to help donate as much food as she can to the Saco Food Pantry.

“We just wanted to do something to help support the community,” Kandra said. “I think you have a perspective that we waste a lot of food in America. It’s crazy that people here can go hungry.”

The practice has been keeping the food donations in the waiting room, Kandra added, but not everyone who enters has seen the setup, so she wants to get the word out.

According to Family Eye Care in Saco’s website, those who bring in two items receive a 10 percent discount, anyone who brings in five items receives a 20 percent discount  and those who bring in 10 or more items receive a 30 percent discount. Information on what donations are preferred is listed on the website: www.familyeyecaresaco.com/.

— Courier Staff Writer Catherine Bart can be reached at cbart@mainelymediallc.com or (20) 780-9028.

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