Voters who go to the polls in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport on Nov. 8 can help their neighbors by donating nonperishable food items or making a monetary donation to Community Outreach Services. The Election Day food drives are held twice a year in each community. Courtesy photo
Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel are once again hosting food drives on Election Day, Nov. 8, to collect nonperishable food and household goods for the food pantry operated by Community Outreach Services. The pantry serves people in all three communities.
The three towns each hold food drives every June and November to coincide with the two annual elections and have done so for years, said Karen Winton, Kennebunk’s deputy community development director. In fact, she said, a friendly competition has emerged to see which town can contribute both the most pounds of food and the most monetary contributions.
“Kennebunkport has been holding their Election Day food drives the longest, so habits are very well built there,” said Executive Director of Community Outreach Services Mark Jago. “That doesn’t stop Kennebunk and Arundel from trying to best them each year though. The friendly competition is a great way to bring attention to this needed food drive and is a win-win for the pantry and our neighbors.”
According to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, nearly 140,000 people in Maine endure food insecurity, and more than 19,000 of them live in York County. Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
Community Outreach Services, a nonprofit, operates a community food pantry at 19 Park St. The organization serves people using a “shopper model,” where folks can schedule time to shop at the pantry, selecting food items their family knows and enjoys. “We take great care to treat our neighbors with dignity and respect and understand the difficulty many in our community have accepting help with such a basic need as food,” said Jago. “Inviting people to shop on their terms and enjoy the generosity of their neighbors, who donate and support the purchase of nonperishable and pantry staples, as well as dairy products, meat and fresh produce, is made possible with this amazing space here at 19 Park Street, in the heart of downtown Kennebunk.”
Food items like canned fruits, vegetables and soups, peanut butter, jelly, mayonnaise, tuna fish, canned chicken and meat, canned ravioli and beef stew, oatmeal, cereal, pancake mix and syrup, instant mashed potatoes, Jell-O, instant pudding, macaroni and cheese, pasta and pasta sauce, and rice and beans, are always welcome. Winton said. Families also appreciate receiving granola bars, juice, and crackers.
To donate on Election Day – either food or a monetary gift – look for the Kennebunk Parks and Recreation bus at Kennebunk Town Hall, the Kennebunkport recreation bus at Village Fire Station on North Street, and the food donation boxes at the Arundel Municipal Building. Checks may be made out to Community Outreach Services.
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