Androscoggin Bank, Lewiston Housing and Cooking for Community Help Local Restaurants and Expand Meal Deliveries

Androscoggin Bank announced on December 1st it has secured a $100,000 grant to assist local restaurants and expand a meal delivery initiative organized by Lewiston Housing and Cooking for Community. The Bank secured the grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston through their Jobs for New England Recovery Grant program. 

Lewiston Housing, Boba Restaurant, Sam’s Italian Foods, and Davinci’s have each received $25,000. The restaurants will use the funds to help decrease their individual revenue losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They have also committed to use a portion of their grant money to reduce food insecurity in their community by participating in this meal delivery program.

Lewiston Housing will use its portion of the grant to continue their program with Cooking for Community that pays local restaurants to prepare hot, nutritious meals that are delivered to residents of Lewiston Housing properties. This new funding will allow Lewiston Housing to serve more than 900 meals through the end of the year.

"As we approach winter, those hardest hit by the pandemic are looking at even more challenges,” said Neil Kiely, President and CEO of Androscoggin Bank. “The Bank has been proactive and creative in seeking out ways to help our customers, including those in the restaurant industry. We see this unique first-time grant offering as a way to help local restaurants keep their doors open and provide meals to the most vulnerable in our communities."

“Food insecurity is an issue that many people, including our residents, struggle with in the best of times,” said Chris Kilmurry, Executive Director of Lewiston Housing. “The pandemic has only brought the problem more clearly into the foreground, and worsened it due to the current and persistent conditions. We are extremely fortunate for the support from Androscoggin Bank and to be able to partner with Cooking for Community to provide nutritious meals from Boba, Sam’s Italian Foods, and Davinci’s to all residents living at Lewiston Housing properties.”

“With COVID-19 on the rise and cold weather here, the timing of our expanded partnership with Lewiston Housing, thanks to Androscoggin Bank, could not be more critical,” says Ellie Linen Low, founding member of Cooking for Community. “Getting healthy, comforting meals to so many people in need this winter, while supporting local restaurants struggling to survive, helps create a full circle economy. As an all-volunteer organization we are committed to creating solutions to hunger in Maine that no single entity could deliver alone.”

“We’re incredibly grateful for this funding, especially as we head into the winter months,” said Jules Patry, owner of Davinci’s Eatery in Lewiston. “It will make a big impact in helping us meet our critical needs, and also allow us to feed those in the local community with the most serious food insecurities.”

(press release from Androscoggin Bank — December 1, 2020)