July has been wet and weedy, but thanks to help from several talented and dedicated volunteers, we've revealed the peppers, chard, celery, and broccoli and cabbages ready to harvest for the food pantry. We appreciate all the help in the St Nick's Community Garden so far this season. Meanwhile gardeners are growing herbs and greens and other delicious veggies at Hillcrest for the pantry each week. Blue Point gardeners are growing, too. Thanks!

Project GRACE's founder, Karen Packhem, is part of the group behind the inspirational VOICES OF HOPE documentary about chemical dependency and Substance Use Disorder in our communities. Initiated by Scarborough S.E.E.D. students, the 12-episode series airs on Channel-13 WGME Saturdays at 7pm. FMI or to find links to episodes, visit https://voicesofhopeandrecovery.org or https://www.facebook.com/VoicesOfHopeME/  There are also opportunities for students to get involved with the project, including social media and film production support.

Have you heard? Feeding hungry kids just got a little easier. School meals will be free for all students this coming school year. Also, Pandemic relief EBT cards are available to qualifying families. Any family that qualifies for free/reduced meals is eligible for P-EBT cards with up to $375 per schoolchild for food purchased at any participating grocery store in Maine, including curbside/online. Apply by August 31st at https://sites.google.com/.../nutrition.../free-reduced-meals. Applying for the 'Free & Reduced' program also helps school districts get their share of federal funding. Call Brenda at Scarborough School Nutrition at  730-4700 for more info or help applying.

Community Services recently reported that the "Meals to Go" program in partnership with the Agency on Aging has provided over 3,300 frozen meals to seniors in our community since July 2020. (Wow!)

Thanks to a generous gift, beginning last February, Project GRACE covered the costs for fresh meals for the seniors participating in the twice-monthly pick ups. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the staff at Scarborough School Nutrition, including Brenda who had the idea of serving meals to seniors and Leslie and her team at the High School for making the fresh 'heat and serve' meals every month. And we salute Sgt. Thibodeau and his colleagues at the SPD for helping to get the meals from the High School over to the Hub. We also thank the caring and creative staff at Community Services who put this great program together for seniors. Nice work, everyone!