UNE Community will pack 100,000 meals for Mainers facing hunger on Sept. 18
The Meals for Maine initiative is part of national Meal Pack for 9/11 Day events taking place across the country to address food insecurity and engage community members in service
A year after volunteers assembled over 50,000 meal kits for Mainers facing hunger, students and community volunteers from the University of New England will again come together on Wednesday, Sept. 18, to package and distribute a staggering 100,000 nonperishable meal kits in hopes of tackling food insecurity and meeting Maine’s goal to end hunger in the state by 2030.
The event, dubbed “Meals for Maine,” is being held as part of national September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance events taking place throughout the country in an effort to bring people together in the spirit of service and memory of the 9/11 terror attacks.
UNE is again one of only a handful of schools nationwide to receive funding to support the meal-kit initiative from the 9/11 National Day of Service organization, The Pack Shack’s “Feed the Funnel” Grant Program, AmeriCorps, and MyGoodDeed — and is one of the smallest of such institutions to be recognized for its efforts to end hunger nationwide.
The 2023 Meals for Maine event brought together 200 volunteers — including over 100 students; 40 administrators, faculty, and professional staff; and over 50 community members — to assemble a total of 52,224 meals distributed across four of Maine’s 16 counties.
This year, UNE hopes to double the number of kits distributed by holding two events across both of its Maine campuses, inspiring more members of the University community to make a difference in their communities and engage in meaningful service-learning opportunities, said Trisha Mason, M.A., director of the Office of Service Learning within UNE’s Westbrook College of Health Professions.
“Last year's incredible turnout demonstrated the strong commitment of our students, faculty, and professional staff to making a difference in their communities, and I look forward to seeing even more of them come together to address food insecurity in Maine on Sept. 18,” Mason said. “By promoting education and raising awareness about critical issues like food insecurity, UNE is empowering students to become proactive leaders who can drive positive change for years to come.”
The University’s Office of Service Learning, Office of Student Engagement, Division of Student Affairs, Undergraduate Student Government, and Graduate and Professional Student Association aim to bring together more than 250 total volunteers across both campuses to assemble the meal kits, which will then be distributed across Maine with a focus on reaching older adults, children, New Mainer families, and other vulnerable groups.
In Biddeford, volunteers will gather at 1:30 p.m. in the Campus Center gymnasium, located at 11 Hills Beach Road. Volunteers in Portland will assemble at 5 p.m. in Girard Innovation Hall on UNE’s Portland Campus for the Health Sciences, located at 716 Stevens Ave.
UNE is among the few private universities with a comprehensive health education mission, encompassing medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing, physician assistant studies, and the allied health professions. Mason said that the now-annual Meals for Maine event puts UNE at the forefront of tackling food insecurity from a public health perspective in line with the University’s mission to improve the health of people, communities, and the natural world.
“Access to nutritious food is vital for good health and overall well-being, and food insecurity presents a significant barrier to both,” Mason said. “As a health professions institution, UNE is leading efforts to foster education, raise awareness, and involve our students in efforts to address this significant public health challenge right here at home.”