MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital Adds New Help Yourself Shelf

Sharon McVaugh, family peer support partner at Maine Behavioral Health in Rockland, stands with the new Help Yourself Shelf. McVaugh is also the site champion for MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital’s newest shelf. 

ROCKPORT, ME  — As part of MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital’s continued effort to help those experiencing food insecurity, the hospital has added a new Help Yourself Shelf inside MaineHealth Behavioral Health Rockland, located at 12 Union Street in Rockland.

This new shelf gives MHPBH four shelves in

Knox County, with the other pantry shelves located on the first and second floors of the Beebe Health Center, located on the MHPBH campus at 15 Anchor Drive in Rockport, and at the Rockland Health Center, located inside the Rockland Plaza at 75 Maverick Street. 

The hospital’s Community Health team stocks the pantry shelves with nutritious shelf-stable foods and fresh produce. The shelves are conspicuously placed and everyone is welcome to take items from them.

“We are thrilled to keep expanding the Help Yourself Shelf program across Knox County,” said Deidre Dority, program manager for the MaineHealth Center for Health Improvement, Community Health department at Pen Bay and Waldo Hospitals. “This new shelf, conveniently located near downtown Rockland, allows more people access to nutrient dense food that may not have the resources to travel to our other shelf locations.”

There are also five “Help Yourself Shelf” locations in Waldo County. They can be found on the first floor of 125 Northport Ave. in Belfast, just outside the offices for MaineHealth Access to Care and MaineHealth Dental Care Clinic Belfast; at MaineHealth Primary & Walk-in Care at 119 Northport Ave. in Belfast; within the MaineHealth Cancer Care practice, on the ground floor of the Ludwig Medical Building, 116 Northport Ave., in Belfast; at MaineHealth Primary Care - Family Medicine Lincolnville, located at 2399 Atlantic Highway in Lincolnville; and at MaineHealth Primary Care Family Medicine Liberty, located at 43 W Main St. in Liberty.

Shelf stable food for the Knox County shelves is supplied by AIO Food & Energy Assistance, while the food for the Waldo County shelves is supplied by The Belfast Soup Kitchen and Kindness Market. Last year, nearly 35,000 pounds of food were distributed through the shelves across the two counties.

“Building connections with other organizations engaged in this work makes our community stronger,” said Jemma Penberthy, director of Community Health Improvement at MaineHealth Pen Bay and Waldo Hospitals. “It’s a great example of how collaboration helps us create a healthier community for everyone.”