BELFAST — As part of its efforts to help those experiencing food insecurity, Waldo County General Hospital has added a new self-serve pantry shelf on its campus in Belfast. The new “Help Yourself Shelf” is located on the first floor of 125 Northport Ave., just outside of the offices for CarePartners and Waldo County Dental Care. The hospitals other pantry shelf is located in Waldo County Medical Partners (WCMP) Primary & Walk-in Care at 119 Northport Ave., in Belfast.

The hospital’s Community Health team stocks both pantry shelves with nutritious shelf-stable foods and fresh produce. The shelves are conspicuously placed and everyone is welcome to take items from them, according to WCGH, in a news release.

“Addressing food insecurity is an important part of addressing the health needs of our community,” said Deidre Dority, a member of the Community Health team at Pen Bay Medical Center and WCGH and local champion of the hospitals’ food security initiatives, according to the release. “People who are food insecure are at risk for a variety of health problems and are more likely to develop a chronic illness.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity, or the condition of not having access to sufficient nutritious food to meet one’s basic needs, affects 9.5% of Mainers. Feeding America’s most recent Map the Meal Gap study, which reflects 2020 data, indicated that Waldo County’s food insecurity rate was higher than the state average, at 11.2%.

“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,” Dority said.

PBMC, the sister hospital of WCGH, has two shelves in Knox County at Pen Bay Walk-in Care, located at 22 White St. in Rockland, and on the second floor of the Beebe Health Center, located on the PBMC Campus at 15 Anchor Drive in Rockport.

In their first year, the PBMC and WCGH shelves provided more than 5,000 pounds of shelf-stable food to patients. Additionally, more than 9,000 pounds of fresh produce was distributed at these locations as part of the hospital’s participation in the Mainers Feeding Mainers initiative.

The shelves were initially set up using grant funding from Good Shepard Food Bank, and in December the hospital’s announced partnerships with the Belfast Soup Kitchen and AIO Food Pantry that will ensure the shelves remain stocked year round and allow the program to expand into other practices.

“Making connections with other organizations that are doing this work strengthens our community,” said Jemma Penberthy, director of community health at PBMC and WCGH. “It really is an example of how we’re working together to improve the health of our community.”

Waldo County General Hospital

Waldo County General Hospital is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of eight 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 wcgh.org.