Mmm Mmm, Give!

Give Comfort by the Can & Breakfast by the Box

There is something reassuring about a bowl of soup.

Soup is warm on a cold day. Soup is familiar when life feels uncertain. Soup can be stretched with crackers, bread, rice, or whatever else is available. It can be heated on the stove or in the microwave, carried to work in a thermos, and enjoyed by people of all ages.

Soup does not ask much of the person preparing it. There is no complicated recipe, no long list of ingredients, and very little cleanup. For someone who is tired, sick, working long hours, living alone, or trying to make it to the next grocery trip, a can of soup can mean a warm and filling meal in just a few minutes.

Cereal offers that same kind of dependability.

It may not inspire the same cozy feelings as a steaming bowl of soup, but cereal quietly solves a problem that comes around every single morning: What can I give my family for breakfast?

It requires no cooking and very little time. Children can prepare cereal themselves. Older adults can enjoy cereal without standing at the stove. It can be eaten with milk, added to yogurt, or packed dry as a snack. And on a morning when the school bus is coming and someone is late for work, a box of cereal is one simple, reliable answer.

PRFC serves approximately 180 families every week, hundreds each month. To support those families we need about 750 boxes of cereal and more than 3,000 cans of soup a month.

That is hundreds of full bowls.

A bowl before a child heads to school.A warm lunch for an older neighbor living alone.A quick supper after a long shift.A meal for someone recovering from illness.A familiar food for a person who has few choices left in the cupboard.

Right now, soup and breakfast cereal are not available for PRFC to purchase through the food bank. If these items are going to be on our Marketplace shelves, we must purchase them elsewhere, or receive them from people in our community.

That is why this drive matters.

Food insecurity is not always visible. It can look like a parent skipping breakfast so the children can eat. It can look like an older adult stretching one meal into two. It can look like choosing between groceries, heat, medicine, gasoline, or an unexpected bill.

A donated can of soup will not solve every challenge a household is facing. A box of cereal cannot erase the difficult choices families are making. But each one can make tomorrow morning or tonight’s supper a little easier.

And sometimes, “a little easier” matters more than we realize.

PRFC welcome donations of soups and cereals of every kind. A favorite children’s cereal, a hearty stew, a simple chicken noodle soup, or a lower-sodium option may be exactly what one of needs. Variety allows Food Center shoppers to choose foods that work for their families, their health, and their tastes, just as any of us would want to do.

Donations may be brought to PRFC (76 North Street, Dover-Foxcroft), placed in our Donation Monster in our lower-level entrance, or left in the PRFC donation barrel at Shaw’s in Dover-Foxcroft.

Every box and every can becomes part of something bigger: a community making sure its neighbors have food they recognize, food they enjoy, and food they can depend on.

A can of soup. A box of cereal. A little comfort, a little nourishment, and one less worry for a neighbor.

Mmm Mmm, Give! Donate today.