The Portland Public Schools (PPS) Food Fund gives community members the opportunity to invest in projects that build food security for PPS students and their families. Food Fuels Learning (FFL) just completed its fifth round of Food Fund grants which went to five inspiring projects.

• “Food Brigade,” received $2,500 to assist in serving over 500 food insecure Portland families weekly with fresh, culturally relevant foods through Presente Maine.
• “Take Home Harvest of the Month,” received $2,500 to provide take-home bags at East End and Rowe Elementary Schools. This effort promotes the Harvest of the Month program and local Maine products at the elementary level, and provides supplementary nutritious food, enrichment, and resources to as many students as possible for the months of April, May, and June 2021.
• “Greater Portland Family Promise,” received $2,500 to continue providing New Mainer families with Portland schools students with culturally appropriate food boxes as part of their Housing Stabilization Program.
• “Bring Local Food to Head Start.” received $2,500 to purchase locally grown food from farms that support New American Farmers. They look forward to partnering with Liberation Farms and Cultivating Community to nourish Portland’s youngest students and to teach them about the many benefits to eating Maine grown produce.
•  “Window Garden,” received $350 to germinate and grow seedlings for the Breathe Program classroom. They will transplant those seedlings to buckets for students to bring home or garden spots around Deering. They will also incorporate science instruction and the importance of gardening and outdoor work as a coping skill for anxiety and depression.

In addition to those awarded funding, Food Fuels Learning provided direct support to all Food Fund applicants through connection to community resources and facilitating network building. This included facilitating introductions with vital service providers such as Cultivating Community for garden consultation. The result was that each requester for funding was able to access resources to address the needs expressed in their proposal.

The PPS Food fund is a collaboration by the Foundation for PPS and Food Fuels Learning (FFL) and is made possible through generous donations by the community. Each contribution will go to a grassroots, school-based project that directly meets the needs of students struggling with food insecurity.

How to Donate:

Checks should be made payable to:
Foundation for Portland Public Schools (or FPPS)
353 Cumberland Avenue Portland, ME 04101
Attn: Jeanine Bischoff
In the memo line, please write:
PPS Food Fund

A secure online contribution can be made at: https://www.foundationforpps.org/donate/ (Please note – all contributions made online are assessed a fee from the payment processor (Stripe). This will decrease the amount of your gift by about 3 percent.)

For more information, please contact Jim Hanna, Cumberland County Food Security Council, jhanna@ccfoodsecurity.org