Bath Area YMCA launches free summer meals for kids in Bath, Brunswick
Bath and Brunswick families can pick up free kids’ meals twice a week at 12 sites through Aug. 20, easing the summer gap left by school cafeterias.
When school cafeterias shut down for the summer, many Bath and Brunswick households have to make up the cost of breakfast and lunch on their own. The Bath Area Family YMCA responded by launching a free summer meal program for children and teens, with deliveries set to run Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 25 through Aug. 20 at 12 locations across both communities.
The program is open to any child or teen in the surrounding area, and parents can pick up meals for their children if they register in advance. The meals are free and handed out first come, first served, a detail that matters in neighborhoods where family schedules, work shifts and limited transportation can make it hard to get to a central site on time. The YMCA said the effort is meant to keep healthy food within reach during the months when school breakfasts and lunches disappear and grocery bills keep climbing.
Bath pickups are scheduled at Atlantic Townhouse Playground, Middle Street, Shaw Street, Patten Free Library, Maritime Apartments, Denny Road and Bowman Street, Oak Grove Apartments and the Bath YMCA. In Brunswick and West Bath, the route includes Green Acres, Bay Bridge Estates, Perryman Village, Old Gurnet Road near Garrison and Heath, Curtis Memorial Library and the Landing YMCA. By spreading service across apartment complexes, libraries and neighborhood stops, the YMCA is trying to reduce the travel burden that often keeps families from using food programs they need.
The summer meals build on a model the YMCA has used since launching its mobile Veggie Van in 2020. Last year, the organization said, the effort delivered more than 16,000 summer meals with help from dozens of volunteers, a scale that shows how quickly the need has grown. The YMCA’s food program coordinator, Jennifer Connelie, said the aim is to make sure children and teens have reliable access to healthy food over the summer, when nearly one in five children in Maine experience food insecurity.
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