Kieve Wavus Education Pitches In to Help Lincoln County
This March, as the Coronavirus pandemic made its effects felt in Maine, Kieve Wavus Education suspended all programming through the month of May. This spring has been hard for all of us, for so many reasons. At KWE, the sudden quiet on our campuses was unsettling. Not known for sitting still, Charlie Richardson started hitting the phones to find out how we could do something to help.
Charlie Richardson contacted Jess Breithaupt, a Kieve mom who helps run a local wellness organization, Healthy Lincoln County. Maine has an aging population and our neighbors in Lincoln County are particularly vulnerable when regular trips to the grocery store are risky. Jess and Charlie began coordinating with a group of restaurants, schools and partner organizations to cook and deliver meals in our area. They formed the Lincoln County Food Initiative (LCFI) to deliver more than a thousand meals per week. Food, funding and other resources are routed from Lincoln Academy, Fernald’s Country Store, the Ecumenical Food Pantry, Main Street Grocery, Larson’s Lunchbox, Best Thai, King Eiders, the YMCA, Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission and Maine State Representative Chloe Maxmin, to Pasquaney’s kitchen. There, KWE’s Lee Giberson, Ellen Kenefick, Diane Impallomeni and others cook and pack meals to be delivered by a fleet of KWE’s vans driven by our employees and others from around the community. For Easter, Lee cooked up some ham, turkey soup, scalloped potatoes, pumpkin pies and added some candy from Fernald’s to the delivery boxes. Recipients were very appreciative.
It has been gratifying to see the community support for the LCFI effort and we are proud to play our part. We’re anxiously awaiting the days when our campuses are filled with kids again. For now, you can support the LCFI by visiting kwe.org/give or emailing Charlie Richardson at cjr@kwe.org
