Westbrook, Maine – December 22, 2022 – According to data from Feeding America, over 139,000 Mainers are facing hunger and one out of six are children. To help alleviate hunger issues in the community, Maine Community Bank is taking decisive action. Through its charitable foundation, the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Foundation, a donation of $50,000 is being made to 12 different organizations focused specifically on food insecurity.
To address this very serious problem, the Foundation has pledged $6,000 to Good Shepherd Food Bank and individual donations of $4,000 each to 11 different organizations serving communities in Androscoggin, York and Cumberland counties. These include:
Biddeford Food Pantry
Community Outreach Services Food Pantry
High Street Congregational Church Food Pantry
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention
Saco Food Pantry
Scarborough Food Pantry
Stroudwater Christian Food Pantry
Trinity Jubilee Center
Waterboro Food Pantry
Westbrook Food Pantry
Windham Food Pantry and Clothes Closet
Good Shepherd Food Bank and the 11 other hunger relief agencies provide essential services in partnership with food pantries, meal sites, senior and health centers, and schools across all 16 counties in Maine. The Foundation’s donation will provide 100,000 meals to needy Mainers.
Jeanne Hulit, Maine Community Bank CEO, stated that “with rising inflation, it is even more challenging to provide adequate nutrition for families in need. We are happy to be able to partner with the providers in our communities to help meet this urgent need.”
Good Shepherd Food Bank partners with more than 600 community organizations in its network and has grown distribution from 10 million meals in 2010 to 29 million meals during fiscal year 2022. “With the support of Maine Community Bank and other generous Mainers, the Food Bank is leading a statewide effort to combat the root causes of hunger by engaging in advocacy, nutrition education, and strategic partnerships,” said Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank.
In addition to these donations, Maine Community Bank is also collecting non-perishable breakfast food items in each of their ten branches through December 23rd as part of their “Brightening Maine Mornings” campaign. All donations collected will be brought to local area food pantries.
About Maine Community Bank
Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been financial partners with the people of Central and Southern Maine for the past 150 years. To help carry out their commitment to the communities they serve, the two banks merged on January 1, 2020, becoming divisions of Maine Community Bank. The merger expands the lending capacity, product offering, and branch service areas, while keeping all decision-making at the local level. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, Windham, and Westbrook.
About the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Foundation
The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation was created in July of 2020 and is structured to give back to the communities in a larger, more enduring way. The Foundation’s mission is to help individuals and families in the bank’s local communities meet their basic needs and achieve financial empowerment.