Maine credit unions raise more than $227K to fight hunger during COVID-19
The state's credit unions raised more than $227,000 to fight hunger in Maine during the pandemic, the Maine Credit Union League said Monday.
The funds, raised in Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger, was kicked off with a $100,000 pledge from Synergent, the league’s service subsidiary, with a goal of raising another $100,000 by July 4.
“We encouraged credit unions, businesses and individuals to make an online donation to Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger to support our hunger-relief partners,” said Todd Mason, president and CEO of the Maine Credit Union League and Synergent, in a news release.
“There are so many individuals and organizations that work hard year-round to ensure Mainers have access to meals, but their efforts have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. To lend them a hand, Maine credit unions wanted to come up with a creative fundraiser to get a broad audience involved. The Challenge was our answer.”
Three-quarters of the funds raised online during the initiative will go back to their communities in the form of financial support to local food pantries and meal sites, while the rest will be added to Synergent’s $100,000 donation and directed to Good Shepherd Food Bank’s COVID-19 response.
“Maine’s charitable food network has never seen challenges like those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank and a 2020 Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year.
Rising unemployment and poverty due to quarantine and stay-at-home orders are impacting people already at risk of hunger and could result in up to an additional 67,000 Mainers experiencing food insecurity, an increase of 39%, she added. "Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger makes a huge impact in our ability to serve our network of over 500 partner agencies throughout the state to ensure that nutritious food is appearing on Maine’s tables.”
Good Shepherd, which is based in Auburn, is the state's largest hunger-relief organization.
It released projections by county last month in conjunction with Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study, which uses the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Census Bureau to analyze local levels of food insecurity.
Every Maine credit union participates in Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger and raises money throughout the year to support the initiative.
Since 1990, the campaign has raised more than $9.4 million, including a record $832,000 raised last year.
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