PHOTO OF THE DAY: Coastside Hope Doles Out Monthly Groceries to Coastside Families

It was beach weather yesterday but that didn't distract 25 Coastside Hope volunteers from showing up for their monthly commitment, providing 75 families — most with dependent children — groceries for the month.

On the third Thursday of every month, Coastside Hope partners with Second Harvest Food Bank to deliver food from the Princeton Harbor warehouse to hungry Coastside residents.

"Our client base comprises about 10 percent of the population of the mid-coast and includes the working poor, the homeless, seniors living below the poverty level, the disabled, and families in crisis," said Robert Reilly, president of the Coastside Hope Board.

Coastside Hope serves people of all ages, from infants to senior citizens. Approximately 67 percent fall between the ages of 18 and 54, and 60 percent of Coastside Hope clients are women, most with families to feed and protect.

Coastside Hope also partners with Second Harvest food bank every Monday to provide groceries to about 75 seniors, many suffering from chronic health issues.

Yesterday, recipients queued up in their cars in front of the Princeton Harbor warehouse as volunteers loaded up their trunks with bags of groceries for the month.

Garbage bags full of canned vegetables and meat and fresh fruit and vegetables were organized into neat piles on the driveway leading up to the warehouse, where inside volunteers break the bulk food into family sized servings and bag them up.

"Our volunteers and partnership with Second Harvest is what makes this happen every month," said Reilly. "Without it, a lot of people on the Coast would face being hungry."

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