JAY — At the Regional School Unit 73 board of directors meeting on Thursday evening, Sept. 28, a report on food distribution from the Spruce Mountain Primary School food pantry found a 5% increase during the last school year compared to the previous year.
Michael Glynn, principal of the primary school in Livermore, said for students at his school 26,273.08 pounds of food equaling 21,894.23 meals were given out from the Phoenix Food Pantry during the 2022-2023 school year. In 2021-2022, 24,907.65 pounds were shared. The pounds provided last year were 5% more than the previous year.
The numbers Glynn shared for his school were from a document provided by the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn. Good Shepherd partners with the school to provide the food. According to Good Shepherd, Feeding America [a national organization fighting hunger in America, located in Chicago] calculates 1.2 pounds of food is equal to one meal.
The Feeding America website notes one dollar will provide 10 meals.
In 2014, art teacher Farrah Poirier wanted to start a food pantry at the primary school. Good Shepherd gave the school a $9,000 seed grant provided through a Red Nose Day grant. In 2016, a free produce giveaway was added because the need was so great. More recently, backpacks filled with food had been sent home with students on Fridays and at the beginning of school vacations.
Glynn said after COVID-19, second grade teacher Penny Gould said she didn’t want to lose the food pantry and took it on. A handful of teachers help her distribute the food every week.
“It’s a phenomenal group of teachers we have,” Glynn stated. “This is something extra the staff does.”
He expected the amount of food distributed this year to be more as well.
“It is important to recognize all the extras our staff does,” Elaine Fitzgerald, director from Jay, said.
Prior to COVID-19, volunteers assisted with the food pantry. For information about volunteering or donating funds to the food pantry, call 897-3355.
In other business, Phoebe Pike, director from Livermore Falls and chair of the Scholarship Committee announced the recipients of the Marcia and Louis Brown Scholarship.
The scholarship allows for two awards to be given, in the amount of $1,000 each, to alumni of Spruce Mountain High School attending college.
There were only two applications this year, which made the decision easy, Pike said.
Matthew Fenlanson of Winthrop, studying sports management at Dean College, in Franklin, Mass., and Paris Howes of Jay, studying elementary education at University of Maine Farmington are this years’ recipients, Pike noted. They were sent notification letters Sept. 15 by Laura White, (administrative assistant to the superintendent), Pike said.
Next year the committee would like to see more applications, Pike added.
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