PORTLAND — Full Plates Full Potential, Maine’s only statewide childhood hunger organization, announces the Oxford County 2018 Summer Food Program winner. RSU 56, covering the towns of Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru, will receive a $500 Summer Food Grant to support the 2019 summer program. Full Plates’ inaugural 16 county competition was launched to highlight the critical work summer food programs do reaching the 82,000 children who qualify for free and reduced price school meals.

“We are so proud of RSU 56’s summer meals program. This summer was the first year they ran a summer meal program, and they served 1,646 meals” said Anna Korsen, Full Plates Full Potential’s program director. “Summer time is an extremely challenging time for children who are hungry. Our 16 county grant program goal was to showcase and reward the best of summer programs across our state.”

“We have tremendous need in our schools, nearly 60% of our students are eligible for free school meals,” said Debbie Nokes, RSU 56 school nutrition director. “During the summer months, many of those children don’t know where their next meal will come from, and serving summer lunches is critical to their well being.”

Maine has 123 Summer Food Service Programs with 450 meal sites across the state. In 2018, 727,238 summer meals were served statewide.

Started in 2015, Full Plates Full Potential is Maine’s only statewide child hunger organization. Full Plates Full Potential does its work by partnering with other hunger relief organizations, granting funds and providing technical support to schools and nonprofits and working with chefs, businesses and others to end child hunger. Learn more at www.fullplates.org.