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It’s not surprising there are so many food assistance programs located in Maine. And, with the uncertain future of SNAP benefits we can expect more people will be relying on local food banks and meals. Not surprisingly, the list of programs available will fluctuate — some resources will be gone due to lack of federal funds and others will crop up both for the long and short term to fill the need.
Faith Linking in Action (FLIA) is an interfaith nonprofit with the purpose of helping people in the Greater Bangor area who are struggling with food, housing and child care insecurity. They have developed a tool whereby free food resources — food pantries and meals — can be located any day of the week. FLIA’s Food Justice issue group devised regularly updated food resource calendars, one for pantries and one for free meals. Calendars can be viewed and printed out from their web page ( faithlinkinginaction.org) or via a QR code included on a business-sized card recipients can carry with them for future reference. Calendars and cards can also be picked up at most free meals or food pantries and other widely frequented locations (e.g., libraries, second-hand clothing stores).
Of course, the real goal would be to eliminate food insecurity altogether but, in the meantime, it’s crucial people struggling to find a free meal or food pantry can find one when they need one. FLIA members hope their calendars can help fill the need for this information.
Suzanne Kelly
Bangor
