Wayside Kitchen and Food Rescue

Description

Wayside Kitchen:

The purpose of Wayside Kitchen is to provide nutritious meals to those in need.

• Wayside SKitchen is Maine's largest soup kitchen; operating since 1986.
• Lunch is served 5 days a week; dinner is served 7 nights; a meal has never been missed.
• Approximately 70% of population is the working poor; the remaining 30% is homeless.
• 134,005 meals served in 2008; cost of $2.15 per meal, a .38 cent increase over 2007.
• Over 48,000 hours of Volunteer service was contributed in 2008, a value of $700,000.
• 85 Faith Based and Civic Sector groups prepare & serve the meal each month.
• 107 Youth Groups completed Service Learning with Wayside in 2008.
• Over 2000 individuals contributed their volunteer efforts.

Wayside Food Rescue:

The purpose of Wayside Food Rescue is to collect and distribute food which might otherwise be wasted from the area grocers, wholesalers, restaurants and truckers.

• Wayside Food Rescue has been sourcing and distributing food since 1999.
• 40 plus pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and social service providers served in 2008.
• Nearly 1 million pounds of donated/rescued food distributed free of charge in 2008.
• Over 250,000 pounds of food distributed to the Soup Kitchen in 2008.
• Cost of rescuing food: .23 cents per pound.
• 85 Vendors donated perishable and non-perishable foods in 2008
• Program serves as a single point of contact to Donors; smoothing tasks of distribution.