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On Wednesday, October 11, the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger made the second installment of its three-year, $100,000 commitment to childhood hunger in Maine at the Kennedy Kindergarten Center in Biddeford, one of the sites that has benefited from the nearly $150,000 that Maine's credit unions have contributed to support the Good Shepherd Food Bank's school backpack and pantry programs.
At the presentation, a representative from Kennedy Kindergarten Center recalled the despair that many kids had before the backpack and pantry program came to the school. "Prior to having a school backpack and pantry program on site, I noticed the anxiety level of kids would rise significantly on Fridays and right before vacations. It finally dawned on me that they were anxious because they were worried about not having access to food over the weekend or for vacation week. In the past four years, that has all changed, and it's been great to see."
In presenting a check for $33,000, a portion of the record-setting $675,000 that was raised for the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger in 2016, Todd Mason, President of the Maine CU League, said, "When we began our partnership specifically focused on childhood hunger with Good Shepherd Food Bank in 2013, 15 schools were participating in the BackPack program. Our initial, three-year pledge of $75,000 helped the backpack program grow but also enabled Good Shepherd to launch its pilot school pantry site. By 2015, over 90 schools were involved and every county in the state had at least one backpack and/or school pantry program. Today, that total has risen to nearly 140 schools."
"The commitment of Maine's credit unions to specifically support childhood hunger through significant financial pledges has changed the lives of school children and their families across Maine," remarked Erin Fogg, VP of Development for Good Shepherd Food Bank. According to Good Shepherd, 1 in 5 Maine chldren are food insecure, and Maine is #1 in New England in childhood hunger. "It's a big problem that, without the leadership and support of Maine's credit unions, would be even bigger. We greatly appreciate the value of this contribution and what it means to feeding Maine kids."
Since 1990, the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised $7.2 million to help end hunger in Maine.