Androscoggin Bank awards grant
to help feed needy families in Maine
The Main Street Foundation, established by Androscoggin Bank, has awarded a grant to Good Shepherd Food-Bank. The funds will be dedicated to helping food relief organizations helping families with young children in the communities served by the bank.
On Dec. 23 Steven Closson, president and CEO of Androscoggin Bank, and Gwendolyn B Moore, president of Main Street Foundation, presented at check for $10,000 to Rick Small, Good Shepherd’s executive director.
Grant funds will be used to help Good Shepherd’s partnering organizations in Cumberland, Oxford and Androscoggin counties provide food relief to needy families.
The $10,000 grant will provide about 50,000 meals through the coming year.
Androscoggin Bank's Main Street Foundation seeks to enrich the lives of area children and youth and to provide them with hope and opportunity. The foundation’s focus is on young people under 18 years of age who are most at risk and lack the support systems to help them grow in a nurturing environment and ultimately become contributing members of society.
Pictured are Androscoggin Bank president Steven Closson (left) and Main Street Foundation president Gwendolyn B Moore present a check for $10,000 to Good Shepherd’s executive director, Rick Small.
Kennebec Savings supports local food efforts
through gift to Good Shepherd Food-Bank
AUBURN, ME. Kennebec Savings Bank recently made a $10,000 donation to Good Shepherd Food-Bank to help support local food pantries in Kennebec County.
Mark L. Johnston, president and CEO of Kennebec Savings, presented the check to Rick Small, Good Shepherd’s executive director. He made the presentation just before Thanksgiving at Good Shepherd’s warehouse in Auburn.
“Thanksgiving is just that, a time when we all ‘give thanks’ for the blessings we have,” said Johnston. “It also is a time to reflect on those less fortunate and to consider ways to help.”
The gift will go directly into the accounts of over 20 of our partnering food pantries serving needy families and individuals in Kennebec County. The bank has given a major gift to support local food relief efforts for the past three years.
Good Shepherd Lands Gift from Real Estate Managers
AUBURN, ME. Good Shepherd Food Bank is honored to be the recipient of a $1,500 gift from the Maine Real Estate Managers Association (MREMA). MREMA is a statewide association that provides education and training opportunities in property management and sets professional standards and qualifications for the industry. MREMA contributed the funds to help Good Shepherd’s efforts to provide food supplies to needy Maine families and individuals. More than 150,000 Maine people are at risk of not having enough funds to feed themselves or their families. MREMA’s gift will provide about 7,500 nutritious meals. Good Shepherd Food-Bank distributes more than 10 million pounds of food each year to over 620 soup kitchens, food pantries and other partnering food relief efforts across Maine. The food-bank is preparing for what is expected to be an exceptionally difficult winter for Maine’s needy because of unprecedented increases in food and heating costs. For more information on Good Shepherd Food-Bank, visit our website at gsfb.org or contact Bob Dodd, 782-3554, ext. 124.
Hannaford Customers Have a Big Heart for Maine's Hungry
In its fifth year, Hannaford's "Have a Heart for Hunger" campaign has raised $18,374.93 for Good Shepherd Food-Bank. The funds raised through the Hannaford program will provide over 85,000 meals to residents in need, all across the state.
Under the terms of the program, which ran throughout the month of February, customers could make donations at the register by selecting a donation coupon in $2 or $5 denominations. Hannaford customers and associates supported the effort to provide assistance to local hunger relief agencies.
In presenting the check to Rick Small, Executive Director of Good Shepherd Food-Bank, Hannaford Store Manager Mike Labbe said, “Hannaford is proud to play an active role in strengthening the communities we serve and is a strong supporter in the fight against hunger. We recognize the dedicated work of food bank staff and volunteers who make a difference each day.”
“Thanks to this valued partnership with Hannaford and their customers who reside in Maine, this generous contribution will allow us to distribute thousands of pounds of food, statewide, to those who need it most. With rising costs of fuel, food, prescriptions and basic everyday needs, it’s essential for the food bank to become more efficient in our distribution process. Thanks to this campaign each year, we can fulfill our mission of Feeding Maine’s Hungry.” In total, Hannaford Supermarkets raised over $55,000 through the 2008 Hannaford Have a Heart for Hunger campaign. One hundred percent of the funds raised were donated to food banks in the five states where Hannaford has stores. In five years, the program has raised more than $380,000 for America’s Second Harvest agencies.
Local Hens Out-Do the Easter Bunny
March 20, 2008 - WINTHROP ME
Thank-you notes can be addressed to the hens at Dorothy Egg Farms. The hens - through the Lough family that operates the Winthrop business - donated 91,800 eggs this week to feed hungry people in Maine. The eggs were shipped to the Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Auburn on Tuesday and are winging their way to some 600+ agencies that receive food from it's statewide, charitable distribution centers.
"We like to think that could be 7,650 families that could receive eggs for Easter," said Julia Lough, office manager for Dorothy Egg Farms. The donation was in response to a nationwide drive by United Egg Producers and coordinated with America's Second Harvest. Additional eggs were donated by the New England-based Radlo Foods, which has locations in Maine, so the total came to more than 100,000 eggs.
"This is just such a tremendous blessing for the agency," said JoAn Chartier, spokeswoman for the Good Shepherd Food-Bank. "They'll be gone very soon." Chartier said the distribution center gives priority to soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters for those who are homeless and abused. Chartier said the eggs provide essential protein. "Protein has been identified as lacking among those who struggle to put food on their table, those who suffer with the risk of hunger," she said. "Typically there's never enough protein. There's always a high demand and low supply." Chartier said the owners of Dorothy Egg Farms donate 60 dozen eggs every week throughout the year.
"Brown eggs are local eggs," said Lough. The Winthrop farm has about 1.1 million hens and 60 employees, Lough said. Egg farmers across the country donated more than 12 million eggs to the drive, according to a press release from United Egg Producers. A list of agencies, including food pantries and other programs that receive food from the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, is available on the Web at gsfb.org.
