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Community Corner

'FEED THE KIDS' SUMMER FOOD DRIVE BEGINS

The community is invited to join BankNewport and OceanPoint Insurance Agency (OPIA) this summer to show support for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in its efforts to provide food for local children in need.

Now through Saturday, July 19, all BankNewport and OPIA locations will be collection locations for community donations of “kid friendly” food items, including breakfast cereal, granola bars, canned/bagged pasta meals, mac’n’cheese and peanut butter.  All items are non-perishable and are not limited to specific brand names.

During the school year, many children have access to healthy and nutritious meals, however that comes to a halt when summer vacation begins.  BankNewport and OPIA are excited to be able to make an impact to improve the lives of many children this summer.

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“Summer is a challenging time for thousands of Rhode Island families who are struggling to put food on the table,” says Andrew Schiff, Chief Executive Officer of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. “When school lets out for the summer, children who normally receive free or reduced-price lunches miss out on that important source of nutrition.  Summer is also a season when we see a big drop-off in donations, as people focus on leisure-time activities. We are enormously grateful to BankNewport for participating in our Summer Food Drive so that we can keep the shelves stocked at food pantries across the state all summer long.

The Rhode Island Community Food Bank is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1982. For more than 30 years, the Food Bank has been a vital part of the state’s hunger safety net. In FY13, they distributed nearly 10 million pounds of food through their network of 178 member agencies at 223 sites statewide. The Food Bank's primary function is to act as a food distribution center: soliciting, collecting, storing and distributing donated, purchased, surplus and salvageable food for their member agencies. Millions of pounds of food are distributed through their network of food pantries, meal sites, emergency shelters, group homes, day-care centers, youth programs and senior centers. Their member agencies are feeding more than 63,000 people each month. One in three served was a child under the age of 18.

Find out what's happening in Narragansett-South Kingstownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

BankNewport, founded in 1819 and currently holding $1.2 billion in assets, is an FDIC-insured savings bank and is a subsidiary of the Mutual Holding Company, OceanPoint Financial Partners, MHC.  Along with its financial partner, OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc., BankNewport is proud to serve the financial needs of customers from banking and insurance offices located throughout southeastern New England. 

Headquartered in Middletown, Rhode Island, OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc. provides a broad range of property casualty insurance products, in addition to a full array of financial services.  Along with BankNewport, OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc. is a subsidiary of the Mutual Holding Company, OceanPoint Financial Partners, MHC.  Tracing its roots back to 1863, OceanPoint Insurance Agency, Inc. is proud to serve the insurance needs of clients from three full service offices located in Coventry, Middletown and Barrington, Rhode Island, forming one of the largest independent insurance agency operations in southeastern New England. 

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