Mark Jago

Don’t you love it when you come across a cause you can really get behind and support because it aligns with your lifestyle and way of thinking?! Then this might be for you. We’re talking about something you can really “sink your teeth into. “ Well, that is the very reason why Dr. Jim Trentalange of Trentalange Family Dentistry in Arundel is having a healthy food drive for the two weeks of July 13 – 23 to support the Community Outreach Services (COS) Food Pantry. COS serves those with emergency needs in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel.

The summer months are often a time when food drives are not happening and the resources for the Food Pantry become limited. Trentalange Family Dentistry wants to help. Jim is passionate about helping his patients, and particularly children, think healthy and live healthy for overall mouth healthiness. Because of this, Trentalange is treating his patients’ oral health with a comprehensive approach by helping his patients first understand what they can do for their own oral health. Jim believes it begins with diet. This is why he believes a healthy food drive is consistent with the approach of his business practice.

Jim and his Staff are truly passionate in doing the best they can for their patients. Jim’s ongoing pursuit of cutting edge technology illustrates the fact he is convinced he can make a difference. Trentalange promotes to his patients a healthy lifestyle of which the mouth is an integral part. Studies have shown that children by the age of eight, will get more sugar in their diet than they do for a life time thereafter. Trentalange Family Dentistry understands especially for children the damage excessive sugar can do to oral health. They want their patients to understand that nutritious food is also vital for healthy teeth.

Jim and the Trentalange Family Dentistry team is asking for everyone to join them in promoting healthy eating by bringing in nutritious non-perishable food that is not loaded with excessive corn syrup. Anyone can bring in the non-perishable food at the office location at 1389 Portland Rd (Route 1) in Arundel between the hours of 8am to 4pm, Monday – Thursday. For more information call 985-9857 or visit their website at www.trentalange.org.

4th and 5th graders from the Kennebunkport Consolidated School Go Running Our Way (G.R.O.W.), a co-ed running program that promotes fitness and healthy habits while building confidence and positivity through group discussions and activities, are helping to eliminate hunger in their school district. The team raised $374 by collecting spare change to help support the Food for Thought Backpack Program, a locally run service that provides weekend meals for food-insecure students in the RSU21 school district.

Jennifer Gallo, a local resident who volunteered her time this spring at Kennebunkport Consolidated School, led this running program for 4th and 5th grade students. Her enthusiasm to volunteer and help train and mentor students to care for one another’s needs beginning right within their own school district is indicative of the kind of community we have here in the Kennebunks. Children going home over the weekend and coming back to school on Monday hungry is a real problem. Local business owners and leaders are passionate about doing something to help and have been raising money for nearly a year to start and fund the Backpack Program; but when the students step up to make a difference, it is worth noting. Would you join these students and support the Food For Thought Backpack Program goal of raising $20,000? It costs $250 per child to supply food on the weekends for one child for the school year. You can donate online here at the Community Outreach Services website or send your check payable to “COS” with a memo of Backpack Program. COS is a 501(c)3 organization servicing the emergency needs of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel for nearly 25 years.
COS
PO Box 1175
Kennebunk, ME 04043

A Huge Shout Out and Thank You to Port Canvas of Kennebunkport for donating these custom embroidered Food-4-Thought fundraising backpacks!

We so appreciate the support of local businesses as we get our Backpack Program up and running to feed hungry local kids!  Look for these backpacks at our upcoming fundraising events, and feel free to donate directly into them.  Every dollar donated to the COS Backpack Program goes directly to purchasing food for the program.

Hope to see you and your friends at the upcoming Sacks-2-Packs Sunset Cruise on Kylie’s Chance on July 16, 2015 from 6-8pm, where all proceeds will benefit the Food-4-Thought Backpack Program!  For ticket information or to purchase tickets online, please go to http:/coskennebunks.org/category/news. Tickets may also be purchased and picked up at the New Vision Custom Solutions Offices at 6 Brown Street in Kennebunk after June 8.

Save the date for the Sacks-2-Packs Fall Swap on October 2nd!  Location and more information coming soon!

Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and towns across America collect the goodness and compassion of their postal customers, who participate in the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive — the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

Led by letter carriers represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO), with help from rural letter carriers, other postal employees and other volunteers, the drive has delivered more than one billion pounds of food the past 22 years.

Carriers collect non-perishable food donations left by mailboxes and in post offices and deliver them to local community food banks, pantries and shelters. Nearly 1,500 NALC branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands are involved.

The United States Postal Service, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, AFL-CIO, Feeding America, United Way, Valassis and Valpak Direct Marketing Systems are all supporting this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

To donate, just place a box or can of non-perishable food next to your mailbox before your letter carrier delivers mail on the second Saturday in May. The carrier will do the rest. The food is sorted, and delivered to an area food bank or pantry, where it is available for needy families.

With 49 million people facing hunger every day in America, including nearly 16 million children, this drive is one way you can help those in your own city or town who need help.

Are you willing to use some of your time in helping deliver food to those who are in need? Community Outreach Services, known also for being the “Food Pantry” for the towns of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel, needs more volunteer drivers. You don’t have to be the best driver; you just have to care the most.

The Food Pantry, located in the facilities at St. Martha’s Church, supplies food for a 3-day supply to those who are struggling financially to pay for food and find themselves in an emergency situation to feed their family. The role of the driver is essential in getting the food to these people. You deliver to the three town locations. You do NOT deliver to any homes.

We need drivers Monday through Friday. We have drivers for the summer but are in more need of winter drivers. Most drivers volunteer 1 or 2 times each month. The time involved is in packaging the food and driving to any of the three town locations.

We will train volunteers so you are very comfortable in knowing what to do. The training takes about 15 minutes. You will be met at St. Martha’s church, brought to the Pantry, and shown the list of food to package. We will also answer any questions you may have.

So if you have a desire to serve and help our community, you may contact COS Volunteer Coordinator Carol Ingraham at 985-3166 or email for more information at cingraham58@gmail.com.