Announcement of West End Food Drive – November 10 – 21.

The city of Portland is reallocating $125,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to support programs that work to address food insecurity for individuals and families in Portland.  City officials have made this decision in light of the uncertainty surrounding the issuance of SNAP benefits as well as the rise in the need for food assistance.  There are approximately 9,100 people in Portland who currently receive monthly SNAP benefits according to a press release issued this morning by the City spokeswoman.

Approximately $75,000 of the available funding is currently expected to help fund Preble Street’s emergency food programs, increasing capacity and resources to help meet the growing demand.  The City is working with several other community organizations to allocate the remainder of the available fundng.

“Preble Street is very appreciative of this funding from the city of Portland.  As we ramp up the number of scratch-made meals we cook in response to the loss of federal funding for SNAP benefits, we are very lucky to live in a place where there is so much support to help fill this tremendous gap,” said Mark Swann, Executive Director of Preble Street.  “While the Preble Street Food Security Hub, local food pantries and so many other community members and organizations are stepping up to feed people experiencing food nsecurity, we cannot come close to replacing the food supply and dollar value that SNAP provides.  SNAP is the biggest and mose efficient tool to fight hunger.”

In a related matter, the West End Neighborhood Association, (WENA), just announced that it will be holding a food drive at Reiche School.  It will run from November 10 – 21.  More details will be posted herein at a later date.  In the meantime, for more information on this “Snap Back”,  please email:  hello@wenamaine.org.  Other organizations are currently making  plans for similar events.