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Sponsored by: Full Plates Full Potential
Updated: September 27, 2021 2021 Giving Guide

Full Plates Full Potential

2022 Goals

Full Plates Full Potential continues to work with schools and nonprofit organizations to increase participation in child nutrition programs, removing everyday barriers that children face in accessing nutritious meals. The pandemic laid bare the issue of food insecurity among Maine youth but in truth, childhood hunger was a crisis before COVID and it will remain so after the pandemic subsides. Full Plates is committed to simultaneously supporting near-term, on-the-ground efforts to feed children today while advocating for long-term solutions so all Maine kids have reliable access to healthy meals throughout their childhood.

We will work alongside our partners to help implement the groundbreaking child hunger legislation passed by the Maine Legislature in 2021 including the School Meals for All rollout, expansion of the Local Food Fund, increased utilization of Breakfast After the Bell models, and bringing Afterschool Meals to more Maine communities.

Additionally, we will launch the John T. Woods Memorial Innovation Grant to honor Full Plates Full Potential’s co-founder’s vision for Maine becoming the first state in which no child grows up hungry.

Photo © Winky Lewis

Fundraising Events / Opportunities

Cause Marketing: Our FEED KIDS initiative invites purpose-driven Maine businesses to take action towards ending child hunger by leveraging their brand to raise funds and awareness for the cause. FEED KIDS partners are a part of a powerful movement that gets us ever closer to ensuring that all Maine kids have equal access to healthy meals.

Events: Full Plates is known for curating distinctive events in partnership with Maine’s creative community including chefs, musicians, beverage crafters, and artists. These world-class experiences raise awareness about the issue of child hunger in Maine and funds to help to solve it. Once current public health concerns have eased, we will again gather in common cause. Meanwhile, please contact us for ways you can organize a Full Plates benefit.

Giving Opportunities

Core Partners: Full Plates collaborates with Maine corporations and foundations whose social responsibility imperatives include hunger relief, education, and youth empowerment. One-time and multi-year investments through core-partnerships are customizable to meet mutual goals and objectives.

Matching Funds: Full Plates conducts fundraising appeals several times annually including back-to-school, end-of-year, and summertime to support youth meal programs year-round. We welcome matching gifts from Maine companies as a powerful incentive to accelerate individual donors’ generosity during these campaigns while highlighting your company’s commitment to Maine’s next generation of leaders, businesspeople, and employees.

Photo © Winky Lewis

Volunteer Opportunities

Full Plates Full Potential is not a direct services organization and therefore does not have traditional volunteer opportunities but we need your voice. Help raise awareness for the issue of child hunger in Maine through your professional and personal network.

Full Plates challenges businesses and the professionals within them to amplify the issue of childhood food insecurity and Full Plates’ strategy to solve it. Share Full Plates’ work on your social media channels. Encourage your employees/employer and the businesses you do business with to join the cause. Invite your friends, followers, and clients to make a donation to make a difference for Maine kids who are counting on us to solve this urgent and solvable problem.

Leadership

Justin Strasburger, Executive Director
Laura Pineo, Board Chair: Retired School Nutrition Director, MSAD 54

Board officers

Justin Alfond, Board Vice Chair: Co-Founder, Full Plates Full Potential

Michaela Goodwin, Board Treasurer: Chief Financial Officer, VETRO FiberMap


Board Members

Kevin Concannon: Former Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, United States Department of Agriculture

Julie Butcher Pezzino: Executive Director, Children’s Museum & Theater of Maine

Ericka Dodge: External Communications Manager, Hannaford

Ben Ramsdell: Culinary Coordinator, MaineGeneral Health

At a Glance:

Established: 2014
Employees: 6
Annual revenue: $1,867,595

Top funding sources

53% Individual Donors
24% Grants/Foundations
12% Corporate Partners
9% FEED KIDS Cause Marketing
2% Events

Contact

188 State St., Suite 407
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 582-7269

https://www.fullplates.org
https://www.facebook.com/FullPlatesFullPotential
https://www.twitter.com/FullPlatesMaine
https://www.instagram.com/FullPlatesFullPotential

Awards / Accolades

2021 Maine became one of the two first states to enact school meals for all legislation, a policy that Full Plates Full Potential authored and championed. 2020 National Child Nutrition Foundation Excellence Award in Maine’s Afterschool Food Program for Collaboration

Mission Statement

We’re on a mission to end childhood food insecurity in Maine by maximizing participation in child nutrition programs. We provide technical and financial assistance to schools and community organizations to feed kids now, while advocating for systemic changes so all Maine’s kids have consistent access to nutritious meals.

Service locations

State of Maine