PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The recent decision by the MSAD 1 school board to officially end harvest break for high school students in fall 2019 also will signal the end to a program that helped feed 250 elementary and middle school students and their families last August.
But the need for the lunches, volunteers and donations to provide those meals will be more essential than ever this August.
Under the current MSAD 1 school calendar, Presque Isle High School students start classes earlier in August so that they can take three weeks off from late September to early October for the potato harvest break. Though the MSAD 1 district offers free lunches to elementary and middle school students during summer vacation, school officials cannot continue the federally-funded program after high school is back in session, even if they younger students remain off.
The Summer Gap Feeding Program, sponsored by the United Way of Aroostook, The Aroostook Medical Center, the City of Presque Isle and the Presque Isle Housing Authority, began in August 2017 as a way of filling families’ need for lunches during that gap period.
The program will end in fall 2019 along with harvest break after elementary, middle and high school students begin classes after Labor Day, which will allow MSAD 1 to provide free lunches throughout the entire summer.
But in 2018, the student schedules still won’t match, the gap will remain and the number of students the program expects to feed is anticipated to grow.
“There were some families last year who told us that the meal we provided was their only meal for the day,” Locke said. “Some of our volunteers were in tears after seeing how many children go hungry every day. They hadn’t realized that food insecurity was such a big issue in the community.”
Last year, about 150 volunteers from all four organizations as well as community members, businesses and nonprofits fed over 3,000 lunches to 250 MSAD 1 students in 20 days at the Sargent Family Community Center, the Helen Noreen Apartments, and at locations on Birch and Carmichael streets in Presque Isle.
Jamie Guerrette, TAMC community health specialist, said she and United Way officials expect the number of meals served per day to double to about 500 during August 2018 due to increased awareness and the opening of a new splash pad and playground at Riverside Park near the community center.
“The program is a result of TAMC and United Way identifying this problem together, but we never could have accomplished what we did last year without our volunteers,” Guerrette said. “They put in hundreds of hours from preparing and serving meals to helping with clean-up afterward.”
Volunteers will be needed at all four locations from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. except for two days a week when extra preparation is needed from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“This year individuals and businesses can sign up as day sponsors through a donation of $1,000, which feeds 500 children, or as a half-day sponsor for $20. With enough $20 donations last year we were still able to fill an entire day’s worth of meals,” Locke said. “Every dollar we raised will go toward purchasing food.”
Any person or business who would like more information about volunteering and/or donating can contact Locke at (207) 764-5197 or sherry@unitedwayaroostook.org.
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- In August 2017, Jenny Paul, of the Aroostook County Action Program, helps local children pick out food as part of the Summer Gap Feeding Program, co-sponsored by United Way of Aroostook, The Aroostook Medical Center, the City of Presque Isle and the Presque Isle Housing Authority. (Courtesy of Jamie Guerrette)
