Hancock County Food Drive

April 1-30, 2025

The Hancock County Food Drive is an annual month-long food collection and fundraising project that supports food pantries, free meal programs, and school backpack programs across Hancock County. Every spring, organizations a part of the Hancock County Food Security Network work together to raise funds and collect food providing critical assistance to Mainers at a time of year when food insecurity rates are at their highest. More than one in ten Maine households goes without suitably nutritious food making Maine the most food insecure state in New England. Childhood food insecurity rates in our region are even higher: more than one in six children in Hancock County live in food-insecure households. By building resources for food assistance programs, the Food Drive helps ensure that everyone in our community has access to nutritious, affordable food.

In 2024, the Food Drive raised $28,148 for 17 food security organizations that collectively serve thousands of community members each month. This year, we aim to raise $40,000 for participating organizations.

How Can You Get Involved?

To meet our goal, a series of fundraising and food collection events will take place throughout the month of April, including a county-wide Kick-Off Collection Event on April 5th and month-long Read-A-Thon and Movement for Meals challenges.

Read-A-Thon

Throughout the month of April, students are giving back to their community and winning prizes by reading as many books as possible. K - 8 readers can support the Food Drive by fundraising money for the amount of time they spend reading in April. You can sign up, find more information, or fill out a sponsorship form at https://www.hcfooddrive.org/readathon. In partnership with some of our local libraries, there are three vegetable/food themed storytimes happening this April.

April 5, 10:30AM, Blue Hill Public Library
April 19, 11 AM, Ellsworth Public Library
April 22, 1 PM, Northeast Harbor Library

Movement for Meals

Lace up your running shoes or hiking boots, and hit the pavement—or the trails, lake, climbing wall, or swimming pool—and show our local food security organizations we’ve got their backs this April. Movement for Meals can be an individual or team effort! During this month-long movement challenge, set a goal, encourage your friends to join your team, compete for great prizes, and fundraise for our community's food pantries, free meal sites, and school backpack programs. To sign up or sponsor, register at https://www.hcfooddrive.org/movementformeals. In partnership with our local land trusts and preserves, join us for a walk!

April 13, 10 AM, Stone Barn Farm / Maine Coast Heritage Trust
April 19, 10 AM, Frenchman Bay Community Forest / Frenchman Bay Conservancy
April 26, 10 AM, Woods Trail at the Community Garden / Crabtree Neck Landtrust
April 27, 10 AM, Surry Forest / Blue Hill Heritage Trust

The Hancock County Food Drive is organized by the Hancock County Food Security Network, Healthy Acadia, and Heart of Maine United Way, with generous support from Maine Community Foundation, Star 97.7, and Cooperative Extension. Learn more at https://www.hcfooddrive.org.

The Food Drive supports these Hancock County food security programs:

All food drive donations are evenly distributed among the 17 participating food assistance programs in Hancock County - 100% of your donation goes toward feeding people in our community!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!

Thank you to all who made the 13th Annual Hancock County Food Drive a success! Stay tuned for the full report.

If your business or organization is interested in collecting food or becoming a Hancock County Food Drive sponsor in 2025, please contact Eleanor Jones at (207) 667-7171 or eleanor.jones@healthyacadia.org or visit www.hcfooddrive.org.

Continue the fight against hunger by making a donation to a food security organization in your community. Click here to find a food pantry or meal program near you. Help bring local produce to these organizations by volunteering with the Gleaning Initiative, which collects surplus fruits and vegetables from farms and redistributes the fresh produce to food assistance programs.

Food security organizations need your support throughout the year

Financial donations go further to feed our hungry neighbors. According to Good Shepherd Food Bank, every $10 you give can help to provide 30 meals for our neighbors facing hunger, since pantries can often buy food items at wholesale cost.

To support the Hancock County Food Drive at any point throughout the year, please send your check or money order donation to attn: Hancock County Food Drive, United Way of Eastern Maine, 700 Main Street, Suite 1, Bangor, ME 04401. Please make your check payable to United Way of Eastern Maine, and write "Hancock County Food Drive" in the memo line.

Learn more by visiting the project’s Facebook page (@hcfooddrive), or by contacting Eleanor Jones, Healthy Acadia’s Hancock County Food Programs Manager, at eleanor.jones@healthyacadia.org, or (207) 667-7171.