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For the past few years during orientation, first year College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) students have been involved in a friendly competition with their classmates to see which class can collect the most items for the Biddeford Food Pantry.

This year, the incoming class outdid the first-year students from all of the previous years. The Class of 2025 donated 777 non-perishable food items. That topped the 306 items brought in by the Class of 2024, the 662 items collected by the Class of 2023, and the 432 items gathered by the Class of 2022.

2025 and 2024 students also collected thousands of baby diapers to be distributed by the pantry.

Don Bisson, president and manager of the Biddeford Food Pantry, says the donations could not have come at a better time.

“The other food pantry in Biddeford closed a few months ago, so we are getting our clients plus their clients now,” he explained. “That means we are in need of more food and more money. Since COVID-19 hit, we have clients coming in once a week, whereas before they were coming in once a month. A lot of people lost their jobs and cannot afford to put food on the table.”

Amy Wysong (D.O., ’24) organized the food drive for the first-year students and worked with Lexi Schneider (D.O., ’24) to facilitate the effort by second-year students.

“I knew UNE's passion for community service before I even came to campus,” she stated. “I love how involved COM is with the community. The food drive was a great opportunity to demonstrate to the incoming students how committed we are as a university to supporting those around us. It was also a chance to rekindle the flame of service within our class, since we missed a lot of volunteering and service experiences during COVID restrictions.”

Bisson says he is truly grateful for the students' efforts.

“It is wonderful that these young people thought enough of their community to help others who are in need of food assistance,” he said. “I was very impressed by the love and the work that went into this project. They did such a wonderful job and I was impressed by all of them.”