MIDDLETOWN, R.I. A new school-based food pantry — The Island Oasis —has formally opened at Middletown High School for the families of Middletown Schools. A ribbon cutting was held today, Sept. 13, 2023.
The goal of the pantry located off the cafeteria of the Valley Road school is to help serve existing needs in the community in a positive, productive environment for students and their families.
Currently, more than 760 students in the school district qualify for free and reduced lunch.
“Meeting the needs of Middletown’s students and families is the district’s top priority. Island Oasis will provide an essential resource to support our families’ health and well-being,” said Rosemarie Kraeger, Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools.
“We wanted a name that referred to a place that provides nourishment without calling it a pantry and landed on Island Oasis”, said Megan Mainzer, Director of Family Support. We are the Islander community, and we want to create a safe space for all our Middletown students and families to feel welcome and to be supported.
A partnership between the school and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, the Island Oasis will be open daily during advisory and last period of the high school schedule for students , Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons from 2-5pm for all district families during the school year. Any Middletown student or family is welcome to visit the Oasis monthly and choose the items they need for free.
“The MLK Community Center is committed to reducing food insecurity and increasing the equitable access to healthy, fresh food in all of Newport County. We have a wonderful relationship with the Town of Middletown and when the school reached out about finding ways to help we leapt at the chance to partner”, said Heather Hole Strout, Executive Director of the MLK Community Center.
The Island Oasis will offer the same items available at the MLK’s food pantry: milk, eggs, fresh produce, frozen meat, groceries, toiletries, and household products. The school district will also offer backpacks, school supplies and access to a care closet of clothing and shoes .
Students or families who use the food pantry can access the space via an exterior door that opens to the patio by the cafeteria. Students who attend MHS will also have access during the school day.
“The Island Oasis is made possible by a very generous local benefactor who is underwriting the costs of the first year of the program. We’re committed to continuing the program for as long as there is a need for hunger relief in the Middletown Public Schools ,” Hole Strout explained.
For more information on accessing the Island Oasis for your family, please contact Megan Mainzer at mmainzer@mpsri.net / 401-952-9263