ROCKPORT — Nearly 14 tons of food. That’s 28,000 pounds.

That’s a lot more than a shopping cart can hold.

A strategic alliance between Pen Bay Medical Center and the food market run by Area Interfaith Outreach Food & Energy Assistance has resulted in the distribution of 27,176 pounds of food through pantry shelves set up in several hospital locations.

“This has been such an essential partnership that has made a real difference in our ability to provide food assistance to community members who have an immediate need,” said Jemma Penberthy, director of Community Health for Pen Bay and Waldo County General Hospital.

Alan Kearl, executive director of the AIO Food Market, agrees.

“This partnership has developed rapidly,” said Kearl. “We estimate that the 27,000+ pounds distributed through this collaboration has provided food to more than 5,000 people in our community.”

In March 2023, AIO began supplying all the shelf-stable food items needed for the hospital’s “Help Yourself Shelves.” The shelves are all conspicuously placed in high-traffic areas and everyone is welcome to take items from them. There are currently three shelves located on the Pen Bay Campus, including on the first floor of the Pen Bay Physicians Building and on the first and second floors of the Beebe Health Center. Another shelf is located within Pen Bay Walk-in Care at 22 White St. in Rockland.

“Offering resources where people have already traveled to get to an appointment creates a low-barrier option that allows patients to choose foods that work for their families,” said Community Health Program Manager Deidre Dority, who oversees the hospital’s food security program.

Pen Bay set up its first food pantry shelves in 2022 thanks to grant funding from the Good Shepherd Food Bank. The partnership with AIO has ensured the shelves remain stocked and enabled the program to expand from two shelves to four over the past year.

Dority said her team weighs food deliveries when they arrive to track and measure the reach of their food security work. They also weigh the food delivered to each individual shelf, which helps illustrate where the greatest needs are and allows the team to respond with additional resources.

In the spirit of true partnership, Pen Bay’s Community Health department has helped provide resources to AIO clients as well, stationing Community Health Workers at AIO during busy market days to provide information and help connect community members to resources they may need. The hospital’s CHW program is designed to help community members who have historically faced barriers to accessing health care, such as lack of transportation or insurance, overcome challenges to better manage their health.

“These partnerships help Pen Bay and AIO achieve goals of reaching the community where they are with services they need,” said Kearl. “It’s a great example of how working together we can achieve more than individually.”

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.