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More than 500 ����ֱ�� and community volunteers will come together across ����ֱ��’s two Maine campuses on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to assemble 200,000 nonperishable meals for individuals and families facing food insecurity in communities across the state.

The effort marks the largest single-day undertaking yet for ����ֱ��’s Meals for Maine initiative and continues a growing collaboration with the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation (MMCF), whose statewide network will once again extend the initiative’s reach to all 16 Maine counties.

Launched in 2023 with just 250 volunteers, Meals for Maine brings ����ֱ�� students, faculty, professional staff, and community volunteers together through service to address food insecurity as a critical public health challenge. This year’s event will increase the initiative’s cumulative impact to more than 550,000 meals assembled and distributed across Maine.

The milestone follows significant growth over the past year. 

����ֱ�� volunteers assembled 150,000 meals across the University’s Biddeford and Portland campuses in September 2025, up from approximately 100,000 the previous year. And, in March, ����ֱ�� expanded Meals for Maine beyond its campuses for the first time, joining with the Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation to assemble an additional 50,000 meals at the Maine Masonic Temple in downtown Portland. 

The March event also marked the first time Meals for Maine distributions reached every county in the state. This September, ����ֱ�� will build on that statewide model while significantly increasing the number of meals assembled in a single day.

Meals for Maine, ����ֱ��’s signature service event, is part of September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance events taking place throughout the country. Organized by ����ֱ��’s Office of Service Learning and Office of Student Life, this year’s event is part of the nation’s largest community service efforts being held in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. 

The University is again one of only a handful of schools nationwide to receive funding to support the meal-kit initiative from the  — with support from federal AmeriCorps funds and Popeye’s Foundation — and is one of the smallest of such institutions nationally to be recognized for its efforts to stop hunger in its tracks.

Food insecurity is closely connected to health, making access to nutritious food an important component of individual and community well-being. Trisha Mason, M.A., director of Service Learning at ����ֱ��, said the event gives students from across academic programs an opportunity to work alongside fellow volunteers while responding to a need affecting the health and well-being of Maine communities.

Meals for Maine allows students to see those connections firsthand while taking part in a coordinated service effort with measurable impact across the state, Mason said, noting that the initiative reflects ����ֱ��’s emphasis on connecting student learning and service with the needs of Maine communities, affording students opportunities to contribute directly to the places where they live, learn, and will ultimately work.

“Meals for Maine has grown each year because our students and community continue to show up for their neighbors,” Mason said. “Reaching all 16 counties with 200,000 meals is a powerful example of what we can accomplish together while giving our students a meaningful opportunity to both understand food insecurity as a challenge that affects the health and well-being of communities across Maine and drive change to relieve it.”