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3 COMMUNITIES, 1 UNITED EFFORT
TO FEED OUR NEIGHBORS THREE FOOD DRIVES IN SOUTH PORTLAND, CAPE ELIZABETH & SCARBOROUGH TO “PACK THE PANTRIES” NOVEMBER 12, 17 & 18. Three towns, one united team effort: to “pack the pantries” and raise critical funds for the three food pantries serving the communities of South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, and Scarborough. This November our communities are going above and beyond to host food drives to benefit the South Portland Food Cupboard, Judy’s Pantry, and the Scarborough Food Pantry. With the high prices for food and heating fuel, many of our neighbors are turning to the food pantries to help stretch tight budgets. “As the weather turns colder, as prices at the grocery stores continue to be high, we are seeing more and more neighbors stop by the food pantry,” says Scarborough Food Pantry’s volunteer director, Ellen Parenteau. In addition to the nonperishable foods donated to "pack the pantries", volunteers hope to raise $15,000 in critical funds for the three pantries. It’s easy to give online or stop by any of the three food drives with nonperishable foods or cash (or checks payable to the South Portland Food Cupboard, Scarborough Food Pantry, Project GRACE, or Judy's Pantry). Funds raised and food collected will be shared with all three pantries serving South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth. "We're coming together to help the pantries, because the three pantries work together to feed our three communities," says Steffi Cox, executive director of Project GRACE. "We glad to be able to help build and give lift to this collaborative community effort. It's what we do." Families may visit a food pantry just once a month, and while the pantries are as generous as they can be, for some it's challenging to make one visit last for a whole month, so a visit to another nearby pantry is also needed. Some families and seniors prefer to go to one pantry over the other. Maybe a member of a parish where the pantry is located prefers a little more privacy by going to a neighboring pantry. Or sometimes the day or hours of one pantry are more convenient, or the pantry is conveniently on the way home from work. There are many reasons why someone would rather go to a neighboring pantry rather than the one in their town, and all three pantries are open to residents of their own and neighboring towns. “The real difference-makers are the volunteers over at the food pantries,” Eddie Woodin said. “People who go in every week to serve our neighbors; those are the real heroes, alongside all the friends who are stepping up to respond to the community need with this team effort for our neighbors who just can’t make ends meet right now.” Dwayne Hopkins, director of the Food Cupboard, hopes that residents in the three towns will share what they can to the food drive and fundraiser for the three pantries. “Dropping off a couple extra canned goods might not seem like a big deal or all that impactful,” he said. “But if each of our 55,000 neighbors in South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, and Scarborough gave a couple extra cans or boxes of food, you’re talking 100,000 items that our three pantries can distribute to hundreds of neighbors in need. That is super impactful.” |
