Inside Gray: April 16

John Reed, manager of the Gray Hannaford, presents a facsimile of the donation the supermarket made to Gray Community Food Pantry to directors Donna Rand (center) and Janet Nowinski. Contributed / Hannaford

Hannaford lends a helping hand

The Hannaford Supermarket and Pharmacy in Gray announced this week that it made $7,000 in donations to two local nonprofit organizations that support food-insecure families and individuals in the community.

The donations, which include $5,000 to the Gray Community Food Pantry and $2,000 to the Gray-New Gloucester Backpack Program, will help both organizations during a time of elevated need in the community due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gray Community Food Pantry, which has served local residents for 12 years and distributes food to individuals in need twice monthly, will use the funding to purchase an outdoor storage shed to support its new open-air food distribution model as a result of pandemic health and safety protocols.

The Gray-New Gloucester Backpack Program will use the $2,000 donation to provide nutritious meals to students and families in the community when other food resources may not be available, including weekends.

Earth Day cleanup

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 25, join GNG ATV Club to clean up the Route 26 bypass and a few other areas around town. All are welcome. The club would love to see members, Gray residents/families, businesses, high school seniors needing community service hours, etc.

Meet at 9 a.m. in front of Birchwood Brewing to organize clean-up crews, with social distancing in mind.

Maine Wildlife Park

Maine Wildlife Park reopened for the season April 15. Visitors must make a reservation before visiting at eventbrite.com/d/united-states–maine/events/. The park is located at 56 Game Farm Road. For more information, call 657-4977 or email mainewildlifepark@maine.gov.

Bean supper

A takeout bean supper will be held at the First Congregational Church of Gray on Saturday, April 24, but dinners must be ordered in advance by 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 21. The menu consists of pea beans, two red hot dogs, coleslaw, biscuit and choice of apple or blueberry pie.

Call Carol at 650-9093 to leave a name, phone number, how many meals and choice of pie. She also needs to know if meals will be picked up between 4 and 5 p.m. or 5 and 6 p.m.

Park at the Parish House at 5 Brown St. and enter through the front door. Meals are single-sized and are $8 each, payable at time of pickup. Face masks and social distancing required.

For more information, call 657-4338.