Contributed by Sean Marlin, MCHPP
4/30/2020
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program operates seven services across eight towns serving roughly 380,000 meals annually. That is delivered through five weekly pantries, two monthly mobile pantries, a school program covering 30 schools, and more than 100 hot lunches served daily over a six-day service week. Under normal circumstances these services are fueled by 39,000 volunteer hours and a robust food system donating roughly 1.2 million pounds annually. But things have changed. Schools are closed, we can only have eight volunteers in the building at a time, and there are rumors that our food system may soon be on the brink.
The last ten years have not been kind to the families we serve. We act as a stop gap for thousands of our neighbors. Before the pandemic we were already in the midst of a multiyear increase in visits with a gradual slowing of food donations. Those trends are likely the tip of the iceberg. We have long believed that many of our neighbors are one crisis away from not making ends meet. Those families are the most difficult to reach. That belief has been confirmed. Our agency has seen more new faces than ever before. Families that would otherwise never visit a food pantry have needed our services for the first time. All of the pressures on family nourishment have been magnified due to the fallout from COVID-19.
Under normal circumstances our clients often struggled to balance a family budget because of pressures like growing children, heating costs, underemployment, caretaking of relatives, lack of transportation; the list goes on. These families have the same issues except now many of them are now furloughed, and have children at home. This adds pressure for heads of households to stay healthy as they are often the primary care taker for not only children but indigent relatives. That means even short trips to the store are high risk undertakings. Food security, anxiety, and a family’s outcomes are inextricably linked. Fear resulting from the inability to work and provide has hit our population especially hard.
But this is also a time of resilience. Our community is responding to these sobering realities. Our neighbors have been donating not just food but supplies and PPE. In the face of school closures school districts continue to prepare breakfast and lunch which is distributed through school buses. Farmers, who have lost their markets, have been reaching out to donate food. Last week the USDA introduced a program where farms can be reimbursed for donated product. You can read more about the CFAP program here: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/04/17/usda-announces-coronavirus-food-assistance-program.
Our agency is also responding. We have taken decisive action to ensure not only public safety but the longevity of our services. We closed our building to everyone but staff and a small number of volunteers. We have divided our staff into three teams. Each team rotates on and off for two weeks at a time. If any member of one team falls ill we have two backup teams to run our programs. We are implementing a similar plan for volunteers. Because our building is closed we have also transitioned all of our services to be a grab and go model. Many of our services don’t even require a client to leave their car.
Flexibility is the name of the game:
Soup Kitchen To Go Meals - We have had to close our dining room to guests and with it the scores of volunteers serving 100 plus daily meals. We have transitioned to a to-go meal. All food is packaged into containers and in a grab and go model which can be picked up outside our building during our normal hours.
Food Pantry No Touch Drive Through - Our food pantry has converted to a drive-through style service. Premade boxes are placed into the trunk of a vehicle. We also removed some key restrictions to make our Pantry even lower barrier. Currently close to half of the guests going through our pantry are new clients. We have removed a restriction related to our coverage area, anyone can visit our pantry now, and we are not requiring paperwork from new clients. Lastly, we allow pickup for multiple households by one person so high-risk individuals can stay home and still receive food.
Expanded Mobile Pantries - We are continuing to serve Lisbon uninterrupted and have increased our Mobile Pantries to Harpswell from once a month to four times a month. Mirroring our on-site Food Pantry we are also using the drive-through model for Mobile Pantries.
School Pantry Increase - With school closures School Pantry has shifted its distributions. We are working directly with districts’ nutrition services to deliver food boxes along with breakfast and lunch. Weekly we distribute roughly 550 boxes of 10 - 15 meals in each box across five districts. School Pantry has seen a dramatic increase in food distributed. We suspect that it is serving many of the families that need food but are not visiting our Food Pantry. Pre-pandemic this program was serving roughly 4,000 meals a month. Last month it served over 100,000 meals.
Food Security Coalition Building Capacity – FSC facilitates resource sharing between food pantries in the midcoast area. Since the crisis began the Coalition has led by maintaining a listing of pantry hours for North Cumberland, Lincoln, and Sagadahoc Counties. They continue to hold regular zoom meetings with stakeholders to maintain everyone’s place at the table. FSC secured and distributed garden seeds to pantries to assist with food security over this growing season. Lastly FSC has worked closely with our food bank to increase food sharing with regional pantries. Since the start of the crisis, our agency has shared tens of thousands of pounds to those pantries. If you would like more information please reach out to Sandi Konta by emailing her at skonta@mchpp.org.
Crises often catalyze the good and bad of communities. In short, we are surrounded by neighbors of incredible character. What could have been an unmitigated disaster is turning into a story of distanced solidarity. We still have a long way to go and we won’t make it without support. You can keep up with us on Facebook or make a donation on our website. MCHPP doesn't exist without our community; without people sharing food, ideas, labor, and good will. We hope everyone is staying safe in this trying time.
