Maine Food Banks >> Portland Food Assistance

Food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries in Portland ME

Preble Street - Resource Center Soup Kitchen Portland, ME 04101	Details: At the Resource Center we serve three meals a day, every day of the year to people of all ages - ranging from homeless youth to elders and immigrant families struggling to maintain independence on a fixed income - for whom food is scarce. We provide dozens of bag lunches for homeless working people who canâ€™t return to the Soup Kitchen mid day and canâ€™t afford to buy lunch. Breakfast: Daily, 8:00-9:30am; Lunch: Daily, Noon-1:00pm; Dinner: Daily, 5:00-6:00pm
Preble Street - Teen Center Soup Kitchen Portland, ME 04101	Details: While the purpose of the Soup Kitchens is to provide a nutritious meal, they are also an important entry point to services for individuals and families who are homeless or living in poverty. Teen Center Soup Kitchen: Breakfast - Daily, 8:00-9:00am; Lunch - Daily, Noon-1:00pm; Dinner - Daily, 6:00-7:00pm
Preble Street Food Pantry Portland, ME 04101	Details: Early in the morning, the Preble Street van makes its rounds to collect surplus food and bring it back to Maineâ€™s largest Food Pantry, to share with as many as 140 families each week. Every Thursday, soon after the breakfast soup kitchen slows down, the line begins to form. Elders who canâ€™t get to the soup kitchen for meals, families who canâ€™t make ends meet, hard-working people who are going hungry: Not because theyâ€™re spendthrifts, not because theyâ€™re making bad choices; but because they have no good choices. Because the money they earn cannot meet basic expenses anymore. Because by the time theyâ€™ve tried to pay the rent and heating bills, pay for childcare and gas, paid medical bills and electricity, water, and phone bills, paid their taxes and insurance, paid for shoes for the kids and fixed a broken muffler, thereâ€™s nothing left for food. No matter how they juggle, they always come up short and canâ€™t find any way to make ends meet. Some have student loans to add to the pile. Many are hourly workers who donâ€™t get paid when they canâ€™t work. Most of them are one calamity - a broken furnace or an accident - away from being homeless. A recent study at the Preble Street Food Pantry suggests that the food pantry is part of how people feed their families and make ends meet each month. With an average family size of 4 people and the average food stamp allotment of the participants of $82 per month, the pantry provides a clear lifeline between for families and individuals. The study also discovered that increased food pantry usage by families over the past six years correlates to the USDA trends for food insecurity in Maine. Maine ranks second behind Washington, DC in its increase in the number of people who reported very low food security. 62 percent of study participants reported going hungry because they were not able to afford food due to financial pressures, loss of job, injury, illness or death of a family member: 23 percent go hungry on a weekly basis, and 23 percent go hungry on a monthly basis. Preble Street Food Pantry provides a box filled with both fresh and non-perishable food to meet basic nutritional needs for individuals and families. Emergency food boxes are also available at the Resource Center and Teen Center for people who are unable to make it to the Food Pantry. 100% of the food distributed comes from USDA government surplus commodities; is donated by local retail and wholesale distributors, farms, and bakeries - including Whole Foods, Hannaford, Barber Foods, Panera, and Mr. Bagel - or is collected in food drives by the faith community, schools, organizations, and businesses. Fresh food and dietary staples, including meats and cheese, are hardest to supply, and in recent years our food pantry shelves have been nearly depleted because of decreased resources and increased needs caused by: a six-year decline in USDA surplus commodities; more efficient purchasing and the growth of secondary retail markets, which dramatically reduced food industry surplus available to food programs; escalating food prices, which limited buying power; inadequate school breakfast, summer meal, and senior nutrition programs; more people losing their jobs and homes and seeking emergency food. To respond to the impending crisis during the past fall and winter, Preble Street partnered with the United Way of Greater Portland on two collaborative efforts to ensure Mainerâ€™s would not go hungry: The first - Food for ME - raised funds to replenish emergency food pantry shelves across Maine, adding as much as 2 million pounds of food to pantry inventories. The second - the Pantry Project - recruited businesses in Greater Portland to fill shelves with donated food to feed their hungry neighbors. Hours: Thursday, 1:30-3:00pm
Saint Lukeâ€™s Food Pantry Portland, ME 04101 207.772.5434	Details: Saint Lukeâ€™s Food Pantry: 9:30-11:00am Thursdays, at the Park Street entrance. Many Maine families, even those who receive public assistance, have empty cupboards. For more than 20 years, Saint Lukeâ€™s Food Pantry has helped those with sudden job loss, illness, or unexpected expenses fill those cupboards. Most who visit St. Lukeâ€™s Food Pantry leave with several daysâ€™ food. Our visitors may use our pantry once a month and, to supplement that, there are also other pantries in the area that are helpful. In an average month, the pantry now serves over 70 people. This is possible because people like you donate food items and make financial contributions. St. Lukeâ€™s also supports the Pantry through its operating budget. And, we receive small Grants during the year. We have joined forces with the Good Shepherd Food Bank in order to purchase food at low case prices plus miscellaneous items for seventeen cents per pound. We also receive food from Wayside Food Rescue when needed. Itâ€™s the core of wonderful volunteers who faithfully keep helping that makes it all work smoothly. From managing wait lines to checking people in to allocating food needs, this team is dedicated and very helpful â€“ and not only do we feed our clients but we get to know them too.
Project FEED Portland, ME 04103 207.761.3920	Details: Project FEED (Food Emergency Exchange Depot) is an emergency food pantry located in Portland, Maine in the basement of Woodfords Congregational UCC Church. Project FEED was founded in 1975 by a group of clergy and lay-people concerned with the growing number of Portland residents who were without a reliable source of food in emergencies. Project FEED is supported by many individuals and organizations including churches and synagogues in the Greater Portland area and is staffed completely by volunteers. Project FEED provides food and household supplies to take home for individuals and families in crisis. We offer supplies for up to seven days per person in the household. Usually this is the bridge people need to their next food source. The communities we serve are Portland, S. Portland, Westbrook, Falmouth and Scarborough. Clients are requested to bring reusable bags with them if at all possible.
Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Food Pantry Portland, ME 04101 207.773.7746	Details: Each Tuesday from 10:00-11:30am, volunteers help in continuing our mission to assisting people in need by supplementing their food source in the most populated neighborhood in Maine. The need keeps increasing.
White Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church Food Pantry Portland, ME 04103 207.878.2700	Details: Food Pantry every Thursday morning from 8-9AM.
The Salvation Army of Portland - Food Pantry Portland, ME 04104 207.774.4172	Details: At the Portland Corps we provide basic assistance through our food pantry, clothing vouchers and referrals. Our Social Services Case Worker is available Monday - Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to help meet these needs, as well as work with clients to effect a long-term solution for those who come into our care.
Jewish Family Services Food Pantry Portland, ME 04103 207.772.1959	Details: The pantry is open Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment, and serves families and individuals from all over Cumberland and York Counties. Visitors may pick up two bags of food per month. A dedicated fund provides diapers and wipes to families with young children. We are affiliated with Good Shepard Food Bank and the Wayside Food Programs.
North Deering Congregational Church Food Pantry Portland, ME 04103 207.797.2487	Details: To enhance the quality of life of those in our community - North Deering Congregational Church has a food pantry. Our food pantry is opened on Fridays from 9:00 - 1:00 and when needed during the week.
Wayside Food Programs - Mobile Food Pantry @ Riverton Park Portland, ME 04103	Details: This pantry is only for residents of Riverton Park; 3rd Wednesday of each month 3-4 p.m.
Wayside Food Programs - Mobile Food Pantry @ Harbor Terrace Portland, ME 04102	Details: This pantry is only for residents of Harbor Terrace and West End neighborhood; 3rd Friday of each month, 1-2 p.m.
Wayside Food Programs - Mobile Food Pantry @ Sagamore Village Portland, ME 04102	Details: This pantry is only for residents of Sagamore Village; 4th Tuesday of each month, 10-11 a.m.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Woodfords Congregational Church Portland, ME 04103	Details: LUNCH, Monday: 12pm-1pm
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Reiche Community School Portland, ME 04102	Details: DINNER, Monday: 5pm-6pm. Open to Reiche students & their families only.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ East End Community School Portland, ME 04101	Details: DINNER, Monday: 5pm-6pm. Open to EECS students & their families only.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Sagamore Village Boys & Girls Club Portland, ME 04102	Details: DINNER, Monday: 5pm-6pm. Open to B&G Club students only.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ HopeGateWay United Methodist Community Center Portland, ME 04101	Details: LUNCH, Tuesday: 12pm-1pm; DINNER, Thursday: 5:30pm-6:30pm
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Parkside Neighborhood Center Portland, ME 04101	Details: DINNER, Tuesday: 6pm-7pm. Open to seniors 55+ and families with children only.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Salvation Army Portland, ME 04104	Details: DINNER, Tuesday: 5pm-6pm. Open to seniors 55+ and families with children only; LUNCH, Thursday: 12pm-1pm. Open to seniors only.
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ Deering Center Community Church Portland, ME 04103	Details: DINNER, Thursday: 5:30pm-6:30pm
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ St. Peter's Episcopal Church Portland, ME 04103	Details: DINNER, Thursday: 5:30pm-6:30pm
Wayside Food Programs - Community Meals Program @ First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church Portland, ME 04101	Details: DINNER, First Sunday of the Month: 5pm-6pm

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Question by User (2 months ago): How do i sign up to get food from the pantry?