The year has come and gone, and with the support of volunteers and community partners, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program transitioned smoothly into a new decade. Last year our Food Pantry saw record-breaking numbers, and we have had a steady increase in visits year to year since 2016. In 2019, there were 9,800 visits to our pantry, a 9% increase from the previous year. MCHPP’s Food Bank received 3,744 food donations totaling more than 1.2 million pounds of food, an increase of 4.7% from the previous year. An incredible amount of time and energy is needed to go through all of these donations and prepare them for distribution, and our many Food Bank volunteers ensure the work gets done.
We are greatly appreciative of our volunteer drivers who spent a total of 1,295 hours on the road picking up donations of food in 2019. The Food Bank Volunteers who worked 13,733 hours sorting and processing food donations, and worked tirelessly to prepare the Food Pantry for our guests. Finally, our Food Pantry Volunteers who donated over 6,746 hours to ensure that each and every one of the households visiting our Pantry felt welcomed and left with great amounts of food.
Although we serve a rather consistent number of meals in our dining room every year — 41,082 meals in 2019 — a great effort is put forth to ensure that guests have access to a nice meal. Our Kitchen volunteers spent 12,910 hours preparing delicious and nutritious meals six days a week and providing our guests with a friendly atmosphere where they can warm up and socialize.
Our Pantry to Pantry Program provides groceries to homebound clients. These are individuals and families in Brunswick and Topsham who can’t make it to our location in Brunswick. In 2019, 61 households were served through this program in Brunswick and Topsham. Additionally, our two programs focused on youth food insecurity saw large increases in the number of people served in 2019. Our Summer Feeding Program served 13,915 meals in 2019, a 41% increase from 2018. The School Pantry Program also increased the number of students and schools served in 2019.
The Harpswell Mobile Pantry, at the town office, hosted 608 visits in 2019. Our new Mobile Pantry, at the Lisbon High School, saw 464 visits in only seven months. Additionally, this past summer we hosted seven Food Mobiles in partnership with Good Shepherd Food Bank, where we had 342 visits at the different locations. The 907 volunteer hours supporting our Mobile Pantries/Food Mobiles fed a wide range of individuals throughout Midcoast Maine, providing many with alternative food options closer to home. Additionally, 50,156 pounds of food was distributed in 2019 to pantries we work with through the Food Security Coalition as well as to mini-mobile pantries at sites such as Perryman Village.
Finally, 2019 was the year MCHPP received Service Enterprise Certification. We were recognized because of our strong and reliable volunteer base, a group of individuals who work seven days a week to ensure our community members are well fed. We greatly appreciate all of the time and energy donated to our mission and plan to continue to serve the community in the best ways possible in the decade to come.
Volunteers play a vital role in helping us achieve our goals. The agency relies on roughly 1,200 individuals every year to support our mission, and our growth this past decade was in no small part due to the efforts of volunteers. For those who may be unable to spend time working with us, donations of peanut butter; tomato sauce; canned tuna, chicken, carrots, corn, or peas; as well as boxes of single-serve oatmeal go a long way in feeding neighbors in need. To learn more about MCHPP visit us at mchpp.org.
Heather Arvidson is the volunteer and client services manager at Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. 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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