United Midcoast Charities (UMC) recently partnered with the statewide student hunger prevention organization, Full Plates Full Potential, to help provide grants to school districts in Knox and Waldo counties. UMC’s new Rapid Response Fund (RRF) has made this funding possible as hunger rates are expected to soar due to the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Making sure kids have access to nutritious meals every day is a top priority,” said Full Plates Full Potential Co-Director Justin Alfond, in a UMC news release. “We are pleased to collaborate with UMC during the pandemic to help make summer meals available for children in Knox and Waldo counties. And we’d like to thank the community members who have contributed to UMC’s Rapid Response Fund.”

Every dollar donated to UMC’s Rapid Response Fund is put to use for RRF grants. RRF funding decisions and awards have a one-week or less turnaround time. Additional contributions from the community will help with emergency needs, such as:

Food for local pantries experiencing an unprecedented surge in need

Soup kitchens seeing more families needing hot meals for the first time

Housing solutions for homeless families

Help and housing for domestic violence victims

Meal delivery service for home-bound and elderly folks

In-home nursing services to keep elderly patients out of the ER

UMC’s initial goal is to raise at least $100,000 to help with local pandemic-related needs. For more information and to contribute, please visit unitedmidcoastcharities.org/rrf.

For a full list of summer meal grantees, please visit https://www.fullplates.org/news/all-of-the-summer-meals-emergency-fund-grantees-mapped/.

United Midcoast Charities, founded in 1942, is a 501c3 community-supported nonprofit whose mission is to energize Midcoast Maine nonprofit agencies through finance and guidance, supporting a network of resources stronger than any single organization. UMC’s primary areas of focus are food, housing, health & safety, and economic security. Since 2017, UMC has awarded grants totaling $1.5 million to more than 50 agencies as part of their community-led competitive grants program. For more information, visit www.unitedmidcoastcharities.org.