Good Shepherd breaks ground on $1M expansion
Good Shepherd Food Bank will break ground Wednesday on a $1 million warehouse and distribution center in Auburn.
The Auburn nonprofit said the 53,000-square-foot facility, at 3121 Hotel Road, will help it better supply a network of 600 hunger-relief agencies.
The facility is being paid for with a grant of $1 million from the Blue Hill-based NextGen Foundation.
Under the direction of President Kristen Miale, Good Shepherd has increased the amount of fresh produce it can provide to relief agencies, while eliminating food with less nutritional value. That, in turn, has created the need for year-round storage with temperature and humidity controls.
Increasingly, Good Shepherd is contracting with Maine farmers to supply fruit and vegetables, last year acquiring 2 million pounds of locally grown fruit and vegetables through purchase agreements and donations. The new site will allow it to store root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets and squash through the colder months, when fresh produce is not available.
About 15% of Maine residents face some kind of “food insecurity,” the organization says, while a quarter of Maine’s children are hungry. The organization’s mission is to provide healthy food and alternatives to cheaper junk food that is often the first choice for families strapped for cash. Last year, it distributed 17.5 million meals.
Good Shepherd was founded in 1981 by JoAnn and Ray Pike, initially with $6,000 raised in a Palm Sunday walkathon. The organization quickly outgrew the Pikes’ garage and was moved into the old Continental Mill in Lewiston. Early food donors included Burnham & Morrell (B&M Beans) and Snow’s Clam Chowder. In 1983, Hannaford started donating food. Since then, Walmart, Shaw’s Supermarkets, Barber Foods Co., Jordan Foods, Lepage Bakeries and SureWinner Foods have supplied food. Good Shepherd has been in its current location since 2001.
For more information about Good Shepherd Food Bank, visit www.feedingmaine.org
The groundbreaking will be at 2:30 p.m. on May 20.
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