NEWS & UPDATES
Southern Maine soup kitchens and food pantries to get emergency federal aid
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced this week that soup kitchens and food pantries in southern Maine will be getting some lost federal funding restored. Pingree said federal officials have agreed to dip into some unspent funds to help organizations in Cumberland County meet a growing demand for their services. Last summer, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Group sits in the heat to draw attention to homelessness
On the longest, and one of the hottest days of the year, one group wants to make sure we don’t forget the homeless. The Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice was sitting out in Post Office Park on Wednesday from sunrise to sunset. The group is hoping to remind people that homelessness is not just
Taste of the Nation to glitter on Great Diamond Island
Nothing brings Maine’s top chefs together like a good cause, and this summer is no exception as chefs from the state’s best restaurants gather on Great Diamond Island to fight childhood hunger. The 7th Annual Taste of the Nation benefit will be held this Sunday from 3:45 to 8 p.m. at the Diamond’s Edge Restaurant,
Portland emergency shelters overflowing, no relief for homelessness in sight
PORTLAND – On the wall behind city Health and Human Services Director Doug Gardner’s desk is a classroom-sized whiteboard. On Monday, there were 10 high-priority projects, issues, and initiatives written on it. Five of them – emergency shelter overflow, a veteran’s affairs case worker at the Oxford Street shelter, the Homeless Task Force, a meeting
St. Joe’s and Preble Street pick up where schools left off, offer kids meals in the summer months
Ask any school administrator and you’ll find the sad truth is many kids today have their nutritional needs met mostly by the schools, through healthy lunches in the cafeterias and maybe snacks at other times. Busy parents and a tough economy has left many home kitchens without as frequent or nutritional a mealtime schedule. So
Task force focuses on plight of homeless
PORTLAND – More than 50 people turned out Thursday night for a public hearing on homelessness as a city task force works toward a strategic plan that reflects “the heart of the community.” The hearing in the Portland Public Library’s Rines Auditorium was the first held by the city’s Task Force on Homelessness, which was
Food Stamps and the Farm Bill
The version of the farm bill that emerged from the Senate Agriculture Committee contains $4.5 billion in cuts to the food stamps program over 10 years. That amount is a small fraction of the nation’s spending on food stamps, currently nearly $80 billion a year, but would, nevertheless, be devastating for nearly half-a-million households that
Federal grant will cover nearly 47,000 more meals at Cumberland County soup kitchens
PORTLAND, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced Monday that $93,000 in federal grant money will be used to pay for 46,500 meals at soup kitchens and food pantries in Cumberland County. The news comes three days before a community forum held by Portland’s task force on homelessness, a group created by city officials to
Ending Hunger, One Garden at a Time
Last week, I read a story in the Portland Press Herald that was perfect for this Philanthropy Friday series. The story, written by Avery Yale Kamila, was about how businesses in Maine were using employee-managed gardens to help stock local food pantries. Not only are companies like Harvard Pilgrim and Idexx Laboratories donating fresh produce
Letter to the editor: Numbers of homeless climbing
Make no mistake about it, homelessness in Maine is on the rise. Continued cuts to MaineCare and General Assistance programs mean only one thing: more people on the streets of our communities. Here in Portland, the streets are exactly where people will end up; we simply don’t have room in our shelters for any more
Hannaford president to receive Muskie award
PORTLAND, Maine – The president of Hannaford Bros. Co. was scheduled Wednesday to receive the 2012 Hon. Edmund S. Muskie Access to Justice Award. Beth Newlands Campbell has supported many initiatives that promote equality and well-being, according to a press release issued Wednesday by Pine Tree Legal Assistance. The award is presented annually to recognize
Natural Foodie: Employee gardens encourage dirty hands, warm hearts
For the second year, Patty Cook is gardening on company time. A manager at Idexx Laboratories, Cook is one of hundreds of employees cultivating crops for local food pantries behind the global veterinary testing company’s sprawling corporate headquarters in Westbrook. "We delivered to the Sagamore (Village) Food Pantry last year," Cook said. "It was amazing
