On Dec. 3, nearly a dozen Rotarians from the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club delivered 88 USDA food boxes to families and individuals in the Boothbay region. The Rotarians were responding to a request for assistance from the Community Resource Center. Arrangements for the needed food were made by State Representative Holly Stover and coordinated by Community Navigator Hannah Corkum. Working in partnership with the Community Resource Center, the Rotary Club is currently focusing on food security challenges in the Boothbay region.

The Rotary Club was a recent COVID-19 food security grant recipient. The Rotary District awarded the local club $10,000 to improve pandemic-driven food security issues in our region. Our Visioning Committee discussed additional food security needs with Rotarian Fleet Davies, Food Pantry director, who identified a need for diabetic and gluten free soups. These soups were being asked for by the Pantry clients seeking healthier options.

The club, under the direction of our chef Amy Ronan, began preparing homemade soups that could be delivered fresh or frozen to the Food Pantry. After Chef Amy prepares the soup, under the leadership of Rotarian Judi White, following strict guidelines, oversees Rotarians’ packaging the soups with the appropriate ingredient labels and deliver them to the Pantry. In addition, Davies said homemade meatballs that were frozen and prepackaged would also be appreciated by the clients of the Pantry. Rotarian Ingrid Merrill who had prior experience with making meatballs with the high school’s Rotary Interact Club, was tapped to lead this effort. Again, using the Rotary Club’s commercial kitchen in the clubhouse, the Interact Club has gone to work supplying meatballs to the Food Pantry. A future interest is providing fresh spaghetti dinners to the pantry for client takeout.

The Rotary Club is pleased to have additional grant funds to help with these new food security activities. The club’s visioning committee, under the leadership of Vic Taylor and John Welsh, will continue to look for further food security opportunities and needs as the pandemic continues to disrupt our lives.

If you have ideas about addressing food insecurity, contact Rotary www.boothbayrotary.org

If you are interested in participating in a Rotary project or considering membership, contact 410-353-3861 to speak with the president or the membership chair.