"Feeding Maine Youth" Program Expanding
Walmart Foundation grant will help to launch up to
three additional Feeding Maine Youth programs
Auburn, ME – In response to the increasing inability of Maine families to adequately meet their food needs, Good Shepherd Food-Bank launched the Feeding Maine Youth program to address childhood hunger and food insecurity throughout the state.
The Walmart Foundation grant of $25,000 will help to establish as many as three additional Feeding Maine Youth programs at the Food-Bank’s partner agencies. Grant funds will be used to provide equipment, food supplies and cover start-up costs at up to three high priority sites. The location of the new sites is currently being explored.
With the help of the grant money, Feeding Maine Youth sites will:
- Serve healthy, nutritious meals to children free of charge.
- Offer nutrition education lessons to teach children the importance of eating well
- Provide opportunities for recreational activities
- Comply with all applicable Federal and local statutes, ordinances and regulations for food safety and child care
- Be monitored by the Food-Bank on a consistent basis
The importance of this program is demonstrated by the staggering amount of hungry children in Maine, according to a recent report issued by Feeding America.
- More than 17 million children in the United States are food insecure, meaning they are unable to consistently access adequate amounts of nutritious food.
- 19.5 percent of children in Maine under the age of 18 are food insecure.
- According to a study by the Boston Medical Center, childhood hunger and its related costly health issues, such as physical and mental impairment, are highly preventable.
Using previous grant funding three Feeding Maine Youth Programs have already been established. Penobscot Nation Boys & Girls Club (Indian Island) opened in October. The Root Cellar (Lewiston) and Mission Possible Teen Center (Westbrook) are scheduled to start their programs early next year.
The Feeding Maine Youth program was adapted by the Food-Bank from some of the nation’s most innovative children’s hunger relief programs, such as the national Kids Cafe program. Good Shepherd Food-Bank is Maine’s only afiliate of Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network.
