ORONO — Fourteen student-led projects addressing food insecurity on college campuses, in high schools and in communities statewide have been awarded mini-grants from the Maine Hunger Dialogue, a University of Maine Cooperative Extension-led initiative that mobilizes the power of higher education to end hunger in the state.

Local recipients of mini-grants of as much as $500 are Mt. Ararat High School, University of Maine at Farmington and USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

The new, local Maine Hunger Dialogue-funded projects:

University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College: The LAC Resource Hub was established several years ago and revitalized last year with funds provided by the Hunger Dialogue. The resource hub provides meals, clothes and personal hygiene items for students. The hub is located in the student lounge.

Mt. Ararat High School: Team members opened the Eagles Food Pantry, which can be accessed through the Guidance Office. They are also in communications with the community action group Partners For a Hunger-Free York County, exploring ways to engage students and parents to build awareness of the free/reduced lunch program.

University of Maine at Farmington: Team members will establish a resource hub called Commuter and Community Commons. The goal is to bring social service information to students in need, offer gardening classes and provide a food pantry.

The goal of the Maine Hunger Dialogue is to inspire students to take action to address hunger on their campuses and in their communities. Hunger Dialogue campus teams can apply for as much as $500 in startup funds to implement a new project, or expand/strengthen/build sustainability for an already existing hunger-related project.

The second Maine Hunger Dialogue was held at the University of Maine in November 2015 with 150 students and staff from 19 universities and colleges statewide packing 10,000 nutritious, nonperishable meals for food pantries, and reporting on hunger-alleviation projects implemented in the inaugural year.

The event grew out of the UMaine Extension Maine Harvest for Hunger program. Since MHH’s inception, participants have distributed more than 2.19 million pounds of food to people in Maine experiencing food insecurity. In 2015, record-breaking donations of over 318,000 pounds of food went to 188 distribution sites and directly to individuals. Nearly 500 program volunteers in 14 counties collectively logged more than 5,000 hours. The value of the produce was over $537,000, based on an average $1.69 per pound.

The next Maine Hunger Dialogue is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4 and 5 at Colby College.

FMI: www.extension.umaine.edu/programs/hunger-dialogue.