Portland’s Preble Street has served the last group meal at its soup kitchen and dining room because of the risk of coronavirus transmission.
Sunday was the last day that prepared meals were served or given out at the soup kitchen at 252 Oxford St., according to a notice on the nonprofit social service agency’s Facebook page. The soup kitchen and dining room has been in operation since 1981.
From now on, Preble Street will follow a to-go model delivering prepared meals and emergency food boxes to homeless sites around the city, the announcement says.
Anyone staying in a shelter will still be able to get three prepared meals a day from Preble Street. Those meals will be delivered to the Oxford Street, Milestone, Portland Expo and Florence House shelters and to Preble Street Teen Services.
In addition to delivering meals to shelters, the Preble Street Outreach Collaborative will provide two daily meals on a mobile basis to small groups in Portland where clients spend time or have appointments.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic Preble Street is launching a new best practice model that prioritizes the public health of our community and re-imagines the way we deliver essential services,” Preble Street said. “By switching to an all to-go model with prepared meals and emergency food boxes, our food program is reaching more people than ever before and we want to reach them in the most effective way possible.”
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