 We have our can sculpture contest and campaign kickoff today, and it's a drive-through can sculpture contest and food drive and that enables people to just drive on up and deliver their groceries or non food items like diapers and cleaning supplies, which are also Really needed by the families that are served by food pantries today is super exciting It's the kickoff of the United Way of Southern Maine's campaign and people have come together here They're going to bring in we think over 30,000 meals for people in southern Maine We've all become aware over the last year and a half about our interconnectedness how important it is that we take care of each other that we consider each other and We know that there are 7500 households in southern Maine who rely on food pantries every single month And we need those folks to understand that we're wrapping our arms around them today, too And that they matter and that we will help each other to get through this really challenging time in our community The last 18 months COVID has impacted everybody every person I talked to but it has also created greater inequity amongst our community and Today is really important. This campaign is really important because we need to come together and do something about that United Way of Southern Maine is the bringing together of United Way of Greater Portland and United Way of York County And we realize that the challenges that face our community Don't know town they don't have any boundaries related to towns or cities or even counties And so through this merger, we are able to better serve our community as a whole We're better able to leverage our resources and we're it makes it easier for people to participate in their community and Make lasting change United Way really works hard to make sure that that organizations are collaborating Sharing resources sharing best practices and that we're not duplicating efforts The Artist who designed this wonderful Hopeful design as a man named Charlie Hewitt and Charlie's very wise and he said that to be hopeful requires action And I think what we're thinking about this year and today is what actions can I personally take what actions can a company take? To demonstrate that we are hopeful for the future and that we're committed to taking action To make that positive future for our whole community today is important because you've got this great visual representation of hopeful You've got people coming together and making impact So if you care about food insecurity today is a way to show action You can actually bring food in and and make sure you're contributing to others that need it Everybody has a role to play and everybody can contribute to our community and there are many ways to do that And so this is also a physical visual representation of giving This is a way for us to to demonstrate how much we value whatever kind of contribution people can make to our community It's all important. It all matters and we will put it to good use For me personally being hopeful It means that we have an opportunity is each individuals to step up and to make a contribution I came from a really small town here in Maine and And I think that that just it really hammers home the idea that you individually actually have to participate It can't look around you and expect someone else to United Way is really about Enabling the community to engage in the way that makes the most sense to them in order to work together to solve these tough challenges