While we are in the midst of the holiday season, I hope you can enjoy time with family and friends celebrating Christmas, New Year’s and other festivities in the coming weeks.

This year, I know the holidays may be particularly challenging for many in our community. The rising cost of living continues to strain family budgets, making it harder for working families to make ends meet – let alone get ahead. Many are also having a hard time affording groceries and putting food on the table. Across the state, 192,000 Mainers are struggling with food insecurity, including over 50,000 children. 

In the Legislature, we have been working hard to combat hunger, especially among our youngest Mainers. This year, we extended funding for universal breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students in Maine’s public schools. For many kids, these are the only certain meals they’ll receive in a day – and this program has helped to ensure that they don’t have to learn on empty stomachs. 

We also doubled Maine’s Child Tax Credit to $600 per child for children under six, for families earning under $150,000 per year. This will help lower the rates of food insecurity and child poverty by putting some money directly back into the pockets of hard-working families. But we still have a long way to go to end food insecurity in Maine.

To help bridge the gap, there are fortunately local resources available to keep members of our community from going hungry this holiday season. If you need assistance, multiple food banks are here to help. The Alna Food Pantry is located at 1574 Alna Road in Alna and can be reached at (207) 737-9582. The Wiscasset Nazarene Outreach Food Pantry operates at the Wiscasset Church of Nazarene, 255 Gardiner Road in Wiscasset, and their number is (207) 443-8922.

The Jefferson Area Community Food Pantry is at 72 Gardiner Road and can be contacted at (207) 315-1134. The Whitefield Food Pantry, located at 150 Grand Army Road, is reachable at (207) 549-7014. If you need to find a food bank closer to you, the Good Shepherd Food Bank has a food map available online. For additional help finding resources, call 211. 

While the federal government recently tried to withhold food assistance benefits during the shutdown that ended last month, I believe we should never politicize hunger or defund programs that help Maine children, veterans and seniors put food on the table. We should be focused on doing more to end food insecurity and make life more affordable for Mainers. That’s what I will continue to focus on in the Legislature when we reconvene for the upcoming session in January. 

No one should have to worry about where their next meal will come from, or have to choose between putting food on the table or paying their bills. I will continue to work as hard as I can to provide families in Alna, Jefferson, Whitefield and Wiscasset with the resources they need not just to survive, but to get ahead, and to provide a better future for themselves and their loved ones. 

I am here to serve you, and I can do that best by hearing directly from you. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything I can help you with. Maine people deserve leaders who are accessible, and who are fighting to keep our communities strong, ensuring we can all afford to live out healthy, safe lives in this great state we call home. 

As always, please feel free to contact me at wayne.farrin@legislature.maine.gov with your questions and concerns. I have greatly enjoyed representing you in Augusta and I am deeply committed to continuing this important work. 

Rep. Wayne Farrin is serving his first term in the Maine House, representing Jefferson, Alna, Whitefield and Wiscasset. He serves as a member of the Marine Resources Committee and the State and Local Government Committee.