The First Congregational Church of Blue Hill will be hosting a “Cookies for Cans” food collection for the Tree of Life pantry on Saturday August 31st from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Blue Hill Hannaford parking lot. Please stop by and donate a non-perishable food item to help us restock the Tree of Life pantry and get a cookie!  If you’re closing your summer home, please consider donating food from your pantry. Donations of unopened, unexpired non-perishable food (cans/bags/boxes/glass jars) will be accepted.

The Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine reports that population-level rates of food insecurity grew from 10.5 percent in 2021 to 13 percent in 2022, resulting in an estimated additional 35,000 people in Maine struggling to find room in their household budgets for food. All told, one in eight or 180,000 people in Maine experienced food insecurity in 2022, including one in five or 46,000 children.

The number of families living below the poverty level rose to 11.2% in 2023. Live generously so that others may thrive. Thank you.