4th Farm to Fork a Success!

The following article was posted on Seacoast Online

The community, including actor Patrick Dempsey, turned out last week to support Community Outreach Services, an organization of “neighbors who are reaching out to help our neighbors.”

The fourth annual Farm to Fork dinner, a fundraiser for COS, gathered more than 100 community members at Wardbrook Farm in West Kennebunk for a hearty meal and neighborly conversation. COS helps feed the hungry, provides fuel assistance to keep people warm, and addresses specific needs of children and the elderly. The organization coordinates with the general assistance offices in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel to help individuals in need with paying their rent or electric bill, getting items they need like eyeglasses, and more.

“Within our community, within our sphere of influence, there are individuals that depend heavily on COS. We are the neighbors who are reaching out to help our neighbors,” said Mark Jago, the organization’s executive director.

Karen Winton, Kennebunk’s general assistance administrator, shared stories of those who have benefited from the organization’s support. They are neighbors who stand in the same line at the grocery store, or who are stuck sitting in the same traffic on Route 1, she said. For one woman, $157.86 for car repairs so she could get to work helped her on her way “to getting back on my feet.” Through Winton and COS, a local veteran, who had received ill-fitted dentures from the Department of Veterans Affairs, was able to connect with a local denture specialist and “now every time I see him he’s smiling from ear to ear,” Winton said.

“These are our neighbors. These are individuals and families who live in our three towns,” she said. “It can be hard to qualify for these types of programs, yet people still have needs. These people would otherwise fall through the cracks of our programs. But not in our community.”

Dempsey, who owns a home in Kennebunkport, said he was invited to the dinner by a friend and supporter of COS, and wanted to learn more about the organization and ways to support its efforts.

Earlier in the week, Dempsey had been in Boston at a special screening of the new film he produced, “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” a fundraiser for The Dempsey Center. Dempsey founded the center in his hometown of Lewiston, and recently a second site opened in South Portland. According to its website, the center offers “quality-of-life services at no cost to help people manage a cancer impact emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or physically.” Thanks to grants, donations, and fundraising, these services are offered for free.

“We don’t treat the disease, we treat the person,” Dempsey said of the center.

Being back in the Kennebunks, Dempsey said, “I’m home.”

“I love it here. I love it all,” he added. “I’m from Maine so it’s good to be back here.”

The community, he said, is filled with “really good people” and he was happy to be surrounded by some of those community members at the Farm to Fork dinner.

Attendees were surprised by Dempsey’s attendance and excited to welcome him to the event, and share the work of Community Outreach Services with him and others.

Amy Costa, who lives in Massachusetts and has a home in Kennebunk, said the annual dinner is “always on my radar.” “It’s an amazing cause,” she said.

The idea of the Farm to Fork fundraiser, said COS Development Director Michelle Allen, “is to talk to your neighbors, to get to know one another. There’s no better way to do that than with food and wine.”

The evening’s dinner was cooked by local chefs and served by COS volunteers: Chef Tyler Laroche, of 50 Local in Kennebunk, prepared a beet salad and fish stew; chef David Angenend of Texas Grace Kitchen served champagne mashers and coffee and chili smoked beef tenderloin; chef Shannon Bard served herb roasted Wardbrook Farm chicken; and the Bitter End served roasted sweet potato salad and local corn and green bean ceviche.

For more information on The Dempsey Center, visit www.dempseycenter.org.

Link to the original article from Seacoast Online

https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190815/patrick-dempsey-adds-star-power-to-farm-to-fork-fundraiser

Benefit Comedy Show

Benefit Comedy Show for COS

Thursday, November 14 6:30-8:30pm
Nonantum Resort
95 Ocean Avenue
Kennebunkport, ME

Cash Bar Available – 4 of Boston’s funniest comedians

When: Thursday, November 14 6:30-8:30pm
What: Comedy Show to benefit COS – 21+ show
Where: Nonantum Resort – 95 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME

To purchase tickets, use the PayPal form below, or contact Michelle Allen at 207-632-6767 or email michelle@coskennebunks.org. Please let Michelle know if you are able to volunteer and help collect!


Quantity



Mail-It Annual Food Drive

Mail-It Unlimited’s Annual Food Drive

Bill and Anna Gallant, owners of Mail-It Unlimited in Kennebunk, are once again showing their appreciation to their community – this time to celebrate their landmark 30th year in business!

“We know this is a hard time for food drives. People don’t think about food drives in the “off season,” Bill Gallant said. “But the food banks are pretty well depleted by this time of the year, so it is a really good synergy to have it now.”  Bill and Anna Gallant are very sensitive to the need for food drives and understand there is a growing need even here in the Kennebunks. They are doing their part and are encouraging the folks in the communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel to support this food drive also.

If you are interested in dropping off food items at the store (see recommended items below), the hours are M-F 8:30am-6:00pm; Saturday 9am-5pm; and Sunday 10am-4pm. Food and money donations are accepted earlier if you are away that week. As a special thank you for their 30 years of business in the Kennebunks and to celebrate giving back to the community, Bill and Anna are offering a coupon for 30% off your next purchase!

Community Outreach Services and the Animal Welfare Society will benefit from proceeds from the food drive. Bill and Anna will also be running a friendly competition between the COS and AWS drives using their dog Allie who will represent the AWS. Bill will be updating the results of the competition on their Facebook page.

We will also keep you posted right here on our website so keep checking for updates or follow-us on Facebook. We appreciate folks like Bill and Anna Gallant who are helping support those in need right here in our own backyard.

Recommended Food Items

  • Mac and Cheese
  • Mayonnaise
  • Instant mashed potatoes
  • Spaghettios
  • Ramen noodles
  • Pancake syrup
  • Jello
  • Peanut Butter
  • Jelly
  • Canned Hams
  • Beef stew
  • Muffin Mixes
  • Cookie and Cake mixes
  • Tunafish
  • Spaghetti Sauce

Keep the Joy in Serving Others Alive

I was chatting with someone the other day and he was sharing with me his concern for the future of non-profit, service-oriented organizations. He was aware of at least two organizations whose numbers of members were getting so small due to the aging factor, that he predicted in a few years they would not be in existence anymore. His concern came from the logic that the lack of younger folks replacing the ones no longer able to physically serve would be the extinction of these service clubs. He believed younger people growing up are so attached now to their cell phones for socialization, that there would be no desire on their part for them to gather as volunteers and serve in these organizations. Boy, that was a depressing conversation.

But I had some good news for him. And this is good news for all. COS just had the local Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts hold very successful food drives because they wanted to do something to help their community. They brought over their donations with great excitement and zeal. It was awesome as I watched these girls so excited not just to deliver the food to our Pantry, but also to engage in the process of how we provide boxes of food for families who call saying they need food. While I am not sure these cute little ones fully understood when I told them that there are actually family members right here in the Kennebunks who have very little to no food at times, I am certain of this – there was a seed planted in them that I hope will blossom into someday their serving in their communities. May this serve as a reminder to us all how important it is we plant these seeds and give our young people an opportunity to experience the joy of serving others.