Fighting Food Insecurity Together: The York County Food Hub
 

• Guest speaker Alex Gramling shared the vision and five-year plan for the new York County Food Hub.

Susan welcomed everyone to this week's York Rotary meeting and introduced our guest speaker, Alex Gramling from the York County Food Hub, who joined us to share an exciting new effort to address food insecurity throughout York County.

Before turning the program over to Alex, Susan shared several club announcements and upcoming events. Next week's meeting will be a Club Assembly, giving members an opportunity to catch up on club business and activities. Members were also reminded that this Sunday at 10:30 am members of the club are invited to deliver the Veterans' for Voucher's donation at the Kittery Community Market and the upcoming Walk to End Alzheimer's on September 26. Susan asked members who are veterans to please let her know as the club works to keep track of and recognize our veteran members.

Happy Dollars

As always, Happy Dollars gave members a chance to share some smiles and good news. Members talked about recent travels, family celebrations and other happenings in their lives. We also heard about participation in a golf tournament benefiting Michael Potts. It was a nice opportunity to catch up with one another before moving into this week's program.

A New Approach to Food Insecurity in York County

Alex Gramling introduced members to the York County Food Hub, an ambitious community initiative designed to strengthen the network of organizations working to address hunger and food insecurity throughout the county.

Alex explained that food insecurity continues to be a significant challenge locally, particularly as families contend with higher food and living costs and changes affecting food assistance programs. Many families are living paycheck to paycheck, while local food pantries are experiencing increasing demand.

According to Alex, pantry demand has grown approximately 10% over the past two years.

At the same time, the organizations trying to meet that need face challenges of their own. Many food pantries have limited refrigerator and freezer capacity, transportation difficulties, increasing food costs, and inconsistent quantities and varieties of donated food.

The York County Food Hub hopes to help fill those gaps.

Creating a More Resilient Local Food System

The vision is to create a regional organization that can serve as a central resource for York County's food pantries and other organizations addressing hunger.

Plans include warehouse space with cold, freezer and dry storage, along with kitchen capabilities. The Hub would also help coordinate food rescue efforts, allowing surplus food that might otherwise go to waste to be collected and redirected to people who need it.

Mobile and satellite pantries are also part of the long-term vision, helping bring food into communities and areas where access can be difficult.

The organization is now operating from a former commercial facility that already contained valuable equipment and infrastructure. Alex described a five-year plan to gradually expand the operation, initially relying heavily on volunteers and part-time staff while building the capacity needed to serve the county on a much larger scale.

Ultimately, the Food Hub hopes to help serve an estimated 27,000–30,000 food-insecure residents throughout York County.

Collaboration Rather Than Duplication

One important part of Alex's presentation was the emphasis on coordination and partnership.

The York County Food Hub is intended to complement the work already being done by local food pantries, meal programs and organizations such as Good Shepherd Food Bank — not replace it.

By providing additional storage, coordinating food rescue, improving transportation and distribution, and creating opportunities for pantries to access food at free or reduced cost, the Hub hopes to make the entire local food-support network more efficient and resilient.

Alex also spoke about opportunities to partner with restaurants, prepared-meal providers and other businesses that may have surplus food available. Better coordination could help ensure that safe, usable food reaches people rather than going to waste.

Building for the Future

The initiative is being led by a group of community members with experience in food security and nonprofit work, including Katie Brown, Dave Higham, Chris Lewis and Kristen Miale.

The fundraising goal is ambitious: approximately $1 million in the first year and $3.5 million over five years. Alex shared that the effort has already received a significant boost with a $200,000 donation.

There is still plenty of work ahead — from fundraising and technology to developing a strong volunteer network and coordinating food rescue throughout such a large geographic area. But the goal is clear: create a stronger, more coordinated system that helps ensure people throughout York County have reliable access to food.

Alex's presentation was a wonderful reminder of how much can be accomplished when organizations work together rather than separately — certainly a message that resonates with Rotary.

Thank you, Alex, for joining us and introducing York Rotary to the York County Food Hub and its vision for a stronger, more food-secure York County.