For the first time ever, every county in Maine has free summer meal sites for kids. It’s a feat that’s taken decades to achieve, since the federal Summer Food Service Program began in the late 60s. But even in 2013, advocates say, lack of awareness is the biggest barrier between hungry kids and free summer … Read more
STATEWIDE (WGME) — One in four Maine children doesn’t know when, or if, they’ll eat on any given day. There’s millions of federal dollars available to help feed food insecure kids, but Maine has left about 90 percent of that funding on the table. Officials are trying increase participation in the summer food service program. … Read more
PORTLAND (WGME) — The sun was up for about 15 and a half hours Friday, the longest day of the year, and some folks in Portland are using every minute of daylight to raise awareness about homelessness in the city. It’s the Preble Street Homeless Voices for Justice annual Summer Solstice sit-out. The event portrays … Read more
PORTLAND (WGME) — Portland city councilors voted Tuesday night to move forward a proposed ban on panhandling in city medians. The City Council voted down a similar ban last fall. Since then, there have been a rising number of complaints over panhandling across the city. Officials believe this causes an unsafe situation for pedestrians and … Read more
OXFORD HILLS – Groups concerned with the high rate of childhood hunger in the area are establishing at least three summer meal programs at central locations across Oxford Hills. The sites are aimed at alleviating the strain on the area’s most food-insecure families, especially during the summer when lunch and breakfast provided to students at … Read more
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – It is one of the most talked about issues in Portland right now. The explosion of panhandling across the city. Tomorrow a city council committee will take up a proposal that will address the issue, at least in part. It would keep people off median strips dividing city streets. Other … Read more
No aspect of urban poverty strikes the same emotional nerve as panhandling. Record numbers of homeless people crowding into shelters doesn’t do it. People lining up outside soup kitchens doesn’t do it. Reports of children showing up for school without having enough of the right food they need to be ready to learn just get … Read more
Food is a basic need. Without it, we can’t survive. Maine is in the midst of a food crisis that is so widespread and complex we can’t always see it. But it is there, and it is profound. First, the good news: We are not starving. Poverty in Maine does not look like Third World … Read more
PORTLAND – On Tuesday night, 452 people stood in line for their dinner at Preble Street — more than twice the number who gathered hours later to call for an end to hunger in the United States. For Donna Yellen, director of the Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative, those numbers are telling. More than 200,000 … Read more
PORTLAND – The Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative on Tuesday will host the Portland premiere of a critically acclaimed film about hunger in America. “A Place at the Table,” which was a selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, tells the true stories of three people who don’t know where their next meal will come … Read more