Piscataquis Democrats Deliver to Local Food Center

The Piscataquis County Democrats continue to address food insecurity in our communities. They recently delivered food items and a check for $500 to Kelly Sirimoglu ( Executive Director) of Piscataquis Regional Food Center. Kelly shared how greatly funds are needed as the households requiring food assistance continues to rise. Since June, they have added 27 new households
and 7 returning households. They presently are serving between 450-500 households a month.

Fema’s Emergency Food and Shelter funds totaling $58,000 for Piscataquis County are now frozen by the present administration. This impacts agencies in our area like PRFC which was allocated to receive
$14,000. The Emergency Food Assistance Program ( TEFAP ) part of USDA has had a 25% cut which means Good Shepherd receives less food from the government to distribute among the food pantries. The Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Cooperative Agreement Programs were eliminated from the federal budget. Those funds are not returning. That means that the State
of Maine lost $ 1.5 million for the purchase from local farmers which benefited local food cupboards plus our school lunch programs. Future proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid make this situation even more dire! Our continued support of Piscataquis Regional Food Center is crucial to help
offset all of the drastic cuts they are enduring with the present administration.

Our Service committee will continue to collect donations with all proceeds going to PRFC.  Please support our effort by mailing a check to PCDC Box 133 Dover-Foxcroft Me c/o Service committee or at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/pcdcservice.  Thank you for your support!!

— Submitted by Rollin Thurlow