Share your love of cooking by becoming an Eat Well Volunteer

Guest post submitted by Leah McCluskey, Community Education Assistant, University of Maine Cooperative Extension  |  Hancock County

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is hosting a 5-week Eat Well Volunteer Training beginning May 9, 2023, at the Hancock County Extension Office, located at 63 Boggy Brook Road in Ellsworth. The training will meet weekly on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. until June 6, 2023.

Kate Yerxa, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) coordinator and Extension professor, and Kathy Savoie, Extension professor, will teach the course. The training will prepare volunteers to educate food pantry patrons about cooking with local produce, food safety, and healthy eating during food pantry visits. Participants who complete the training, as well as 30 hours of community service in local food pantries, will obtain Eat Well Volunteer status and ServSafe Food Handler certification. 

The $70 training fee covers food costs, training materials, and the ServSafe Food Handler certification. There is limited financial assistance available. To register for the course, please visit the Hancock County Eat Well Volunteer website by Wed., April 12, 2023. For more information or to request reasonable accommodation, contact 207.667.8212 or leah.mccluskey@maine.edu.

As a trusted resource for over 100 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine's land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county. UMaine Extension helps support, sustain, and grow the food-based economy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H.