Support Brunswick Food Guide

Food resources for people in Brunswick, Maine, and surrounding communities.

Last published update: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 10:00 am

Food Resource Guides

Free Food Schedule

Brunswick Area Free Food Schedule 2020-04-27

Food Directory of Resources

Emergency Food Assistance

  • The Salvation Army Bath-Brunswick provides food boxes and financial assistance (heating, utility, and rental / housing assistance) for individuals in need in Brunswick and all of MSAD 75.
    nne.salvationarmy.org/bath
    www.facebook.com/tsa.bathbrunswick.nne.use

    • Needs:
      • Money
    • Opportunities:
    • Services:
      • Please call ahead at (207) 443-3611 to confirm all services. Leave a message if necessary.
      • Service area includes Arrowsic, Bailey Island, Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Cundy’s Harbor, Five Islands, Georgetown, Harpswell, Orrs Island, Pejepscot, Phippsburg, Sebasco Estates, Small Point, South Harpswell, Topsham, West Bath, West Point and Woolwich.
      • Food pantry is Mon, Wed, Thu 10 am to 1 pm.
      • Social services (assistance for rental/housing, utilities, and heating) are Mon, Wed, Thu 9 am to 1 pm.
  • Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program (MCHPP) provides hungry people with access to healthy food, operating a soup kitchen and food pantry in Brunswick.
    www.mchpp.org
    www.facebook.com/MidCoastHungerPreventionProgram

    • Info:
    • Needs:
      • Money
      • Food donations
    • Opportunities:
      • Donate money: www.mchpp.org/donate/ 
      • Donate food: drop off at 12 Tenney Way, Brunswick (behind Hannaford next to railway tracks) Mon-Sat between 8 am and 10 am or between 2 pm and 4 pm.
      • Volunteer: very limited opportunities. Facility is no longer open to the public.
    • Services:
      • For details see www.mchpp.org/covid/
      • Limited staff and volunteers. Facility is no longer open to the public.
      • Facility is closed to public; food now distributed outside.
      • To-go lunches, pre-packed food pantry boxes, delivery service.
      • Mobile pantry in Harpswell is distributing premade boxes of food.
      • Pickups: subject to change due to potential procedural changes from supermarkets and Good Shepherd Food Bank, but for now pickups are continuing as usual. 
      • Food Bank: also subject to change, but for now focusing on processing the most common food items that the majority of guests will be able to utilize, and will last the longest in household pantries. Volunteers are also helping to make boxes and bags of dry goods and produce (and toilet paper thanks to Bowdoin College) for guests.
      • Food Pantry: running a drive-thru pantry out of the airlock. Guests drive to the back of the building, MCHPP collects basic information through the car window and then volunteers put boxes and bags of food (dry goods, produce, meat, eggs, dairy, and bread) directly into their cars. Anyone walking up will also get a box of food.
      • Soup Kitchen: Volunteer teams prepare meals that MCHPP will serve to guests. Guests do not come inside, but instead serve themselves from a table outside the front doors. Volunteers and staff restock the table occasionally and explain the process to any questioning guests. 
      • Rena is working hard to make meals simple and volunteers are doing a lot of advanced prep work to make mornings easier. Volunteers are still helping Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings with advanced food prep.
      • Pantry to Pantry: Unfortunately, had to stop using household specific menus for Pantry to Pantry. However, clients are still receiving bi-weekly food boxes made and delivered by volunteers. Volunteers are trying to leave boxes outside of homes/apartments to minimize possible contagion.  
      • School Pantry: The last few weeks MCHPP packaged take home food for school districts to distribute to families! They’ve sent school districts a large supply of food and once MCHPP has a sense of procedural changes at Good Shepherd they will figure out how to continue providing food to students. 
      • Mobile Pantries: hosted both the Lisbon and Harpswell Mobile Pantries in March! Drive-thru style at both locations. 
      • Food Security Coalition: Sandi is continuing to support the local pantries with resources and information. Furthermore, MCHPP is still providing small pantries with rescued food.

Free Meals

  • Brunswick School Department is distributing meals for children under 18 years old at ten locations in Brunswick.
    www.brunswick.k12.me.us
    www.facebook.com/Brunswick-School-Department-896342617067005

    • Services:
      • Meals distributed Monday through Friday 9:30 am to 10:30 am.
      • Perryman – Community Center
      • Maplewood Manor – 2 Karen Lane Office
      • Baybridge – Boats & Lots Storage
      • Pegasus & Neptune – Tennis Courts Parking Lot
      • Harriet Beecher Stowe – Front Bus Loop
      • Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union – Front Parking Lot on Cushing
      • Bowdoin College Watson Ice Arena – Parking Lot
      • Coffin Pond – Parking Lot
      • Edwards Field – Parking Lot on Right
      • Mid Coast Baptist Church – Parking Lot
  • Midcoast Maine Community Action is providing a meal program to serve children up to the age of 18 who are experiencing food insecurity at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    midcoastmainecommunityaction.org
    www.facebook.com/mmcacorp

    • Services:
      • Grab-and-go style bags consisting of seven lunches and seven snacks for every child in a household are distributed on Fridays, 10 am to noon, at the Brunswick Head Start Center, 35A Gurnet Road, Brunswick.
      • Meals are provided through the USDA Summer Food Service Program for children only.
      • Children do not have to be enrolled in Head Start to be a recipient of this program.
      • For MMCA’s Head Start families, pick-up will include extras such as produce, school supplies, toiletries, and special requests.
      • MMCA’s meal sites will be open during school vacation week (April 20-24).
      • Food delivery may be coordinated if volunteers are available; to inquire, please contact Head Start offices at (207) 442-7963.
      • This program serves other communities besides Brunswick; see MMCA Provides Meals for Kids.
  • Pathway Vineyard Church provides a drive-thru meal on Tuesdays from 5 pm to 6 pm.
    www.pathwayvineyard.com
    www.facebook.com/PathwayBrunswick

    • Services:
      • 2 Columbus Drive, Brunswick
      • Every Tue 5 pm to 6 pm.
      • Drive thru: meal will be delivered to your car.
  • Spectrum Generations’ dedicated volunteers and staff supply Meals on Wheels to communities throughout Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Waldo Counties, plus the towns of Harpswell and Brunswick in Cumberland County.
    www.spectrumgenerations.org/nutrition-services/meals-wheels
    www.facebook.com/SpectrumGenerations

    • Info:
    • Needs:
      • Money
    • Opportunities:
    • Services:
      • Under new guidelines, more people now qualify for home-delivered Meals on Wheels. Anyone over the age of 60 who is practicing social distancing can receive meals throughout Spectrum Generation’s service territory.
      • The Meals on Wheels program provides nutritionally balanced meals for homebound individuals 60 years of age or older and to persons with a disability who are unable to prepare a meal for themselves.
      • Meals on Wheels are delivered to homes by volunteers and Spectrum Generations staff. This also provides an opportunity to check in on the meal recipient as a safety measure.
      • To inquire about Meals on Wheels, Maine-ly Delivered Meals, or USDA Commodities Supplemental Food Program, call the Sagadahoc County (and Brunswick/Harpswell) nutrition coordinator at (207) 607-4406, or call the Brunswick Meals on Wheels Coordinator Casey Henson at (207) 729-0757.

Food Security

Grocery Stores in Brunswick

  • Morning Glory Natural Foods is an independent grocery store specializing in local and organic food located on Maine Street in Brunswick.
    www.moglonf.com
    www.facebook.com/Morning-Glory-Natural-Foods-149416221756811/

    • Opportunities:
      • Organize a weekly “shopping rotation”: one person shops for five families each week, takes orders and drops them off. This “neighbors to neighbors” system helps grocery stores be more efficient.
    • Services:
      • New policies effective Thursday, March 24.
      • Maximum 10 customers in the store at once.
      • Hours:
        • Mon: 10 am – 6 pm
        • Tue: 1 pm – 6 pm
        • Wed: elderly and at risk only 9 am – 10 am
        • Wed: 10 am – 6 pm
        • Thu: 1 pm – 6 pm
        • Fri: 1 pm – 6 pm
        • Sat: 10 am – 6 pm
        • Sun: CLOSED
      • Curbside pickup:
        • Email orders to <moglotogo@gmail.com>
        • Include first and last name AND a working phone number in the subject line of your email.
        • They will call for credit card info before they pick your order.
        • Email orders received after 3:30 pm will go into the next day’s queue.
        • They will substitute similar items when your first choice is out of stock unless you write “no substitutes” at the top of your order.
      • All items are non-refundable and non-returnable.
      • No special orders.
  • Hannaford is a full-service grocery store in downtown Brunswick near the train station.
    www.hannaford.com/customer-service/htg-coronavirus-updates
    www.facebook.com/Hannaford/

    • Opportunities:
      • Organize a weekly “shopping rotation”: one person shops for five families each week, takes orders and drops them off. This “neighbors to neighbors” system helps grocery stores be more efficient.
    • Services:
      • Hannaford To Go services suspended as of Thursday, March 19. Service will resume at the end of March.
      • Beginning March 24: One hour on Tue, Wed and Thu — 6 to 7 am — will be reserved for customers 60 and over and customers identified by the CDC as being high-risk.
  • Shaw’s is a full-service grocery store near Cook’s Corner in Brunswick.
    www.shaws.com
    www.facebook.com/Shaws

    • Opportunities:
      • Organize a weekly “shopping rotation”: one person shops for five families each week, takes orders and drops them off. This “neighbors to neighbors” system helps grocery stores be more efficient.
    • Services:
      • Grocery Delivery with online ordering.

 

  • Walmart is a full-service grocery and department store near Cook’s Corner in Brunswick.
    grocery.walmart.com
    www.facebook.com/walmart

    • Opportunities:
      • Organize a weekly “shopping rotation”: one person shops for five families each week, takes orders and drops them off. This “neighbors to neighbors” system helps grocery stores be more efficient.
    • Services:
      • NextDay delivery is currently unavailable due to high demand.
      • Starting Thursday, March 19, Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets will be open 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. until further notice.

Markets and Convenience Stores in Brunswick

Local Food (Farms and Farmers) available in Brunswick

Restaurants

I am working on a Dining Guide for restaurants in Brunswick which will be published in a separate document. If you own a restaurant that is physically located in Brunswick, I would like to verify what we publish about your business. Please email me <fred.horch@gmail.com>

In the meantime, a selective list of restaurants is available in the BDA’s Business Updates: Pick-Up, Take-Out Offerings & Closures (Operation Pick-Up.).