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PHOTO: Lynne Barboza, Food City assistant manager, and Carol Madsen, of the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club, kick off a food voucher program for area food pantries in May. (Submitted photo)
BRIDGTON — Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club has partnered with Bridgton’s Food City on a program that will provide vouchers for needed household cleaning items to area food pantries.
In early May, shortly after the launch, more than 200 vouchers had been distributed by area food pantries.
The effort is part of a year-long program the local Rotary club has managed with the help of a Rotary District 7780 grant to provide health and wellness supplies to local food pantries during the pandemic. The district grant was matched by local donors, individual Rotarians and the club’s reserves.
“The grant is nearly complete, so we wanted to finish with something people have really appreciated in the past,” said Carol Madsen, BLR Rotary COVID-19 project coordinator. “Laundry and cleaning products are not covered by SNAP, Maine’s supplemental nutrition assistance program. Our work with the pantries has allowed them to put more of their own funds directly into food products and produce.”
Madsen worked out details with Food City Manager Jennifer Moran and Assistant Manager Lynne Barboza on the $5 vouchers, which can be used for things like laundry detergent or other household cleaning supplies by food pantry patrons.
Madsen and Julie Forbes, president of BLRRC, thanked the community as a whole for their support of the project. They said that it has resulted “in a wealth of new friends of Rotary, who focus on service work, several of whom became new members of Rotary, and many others who have donated time and money to this effort.”
For more information about Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club or email LakeRegionRotary@gmail.com.
