A Brunswick nonprofit lost access to federal funds for a week amid confusion over President Donald Trump’s effort to freeze federal funding.
In an email sent to subscribers, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program said the organization knew change was coming, but it still made for a difficult week. In 2024, MCHPP celebrated a $350,000 grant from the Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program from the United States Department of Agriculture to support the Maine nonprofit’s Community Kitchen. Less than a quarter of those funds have been distributed to the nonprofit so far.
After the Trump administration’s federal funding pause, MCHPP lost access to those allocated funds on Tuesday, Jan. 28. As of Monday, the nonprofit’s withdrawal was “in the queue,” according to Hannah Chatalbash, MCHPP’s executive director.
The nonprofit’s Community Kitchen provides growth opportunities to small food businesses, farms and other nonprofits that run food pantry programs, such as the Bowdoinham Food Pantry, Healthy Lincoln County and Harpswell Aging at Home.
“It’s a really interesting program that allows us to create and offer affordable commercial kitchen space to small businesses so they can get their business model off the ground, get proof of concept and start earning some revenue,” Chatalbash said.
Community Kitchen helps farms create shelf-stable products that can be worth more at the market and have more products available year-round, offering more income throughout the year.
For example, MCHPP worked with Whatley Farm to process fresh hot peppers into pepper powders they could sell in jars.
MCHPP purchases some food directly from farms, which the nonprofit uses to cook meals in the Community Kitchen or distribute to community members through the food pantry.
Chatalbash said a delay in federal funds creates a sense of insecurity in MCHPP’s whole system by putting all current projects on hold while creating confusion as to whether the nonprofit should continue with the programs.
“We don’t have unlimited resources, we don’t have infinite funds,” Chatalbash said. “When money that has essentially been pledged to us is then revoked, even for a short period of time, that just creates an enormous amount of uncertainty.”
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