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AUBURN — Oakhurst Dairy has pledged a matching challenge gift to Good Shepherd Food Bank’s capital campaign and is encouraging Mainers across the state to participate. Oakhurst will match donations to the campaign dollar-for-dollar, up to $50,000.
Auburn-based Good Shepherd Food Bank launched “Food for All: A Campaign to Nourish Maine” at a groundbreaking for its new Hampden warehouse on May 23.
The $5 million capital campaign is funding the transformation of the former Bangor Daily News printing plant in Hampden into a 40,000-square-foot distribution center that will allow the Food Bank to more equitably and efficiently serve central, northern and Downeast Maine. Of the $5 million needed for the project, $3.6 million has been raised to date from foundations, businesses, and individuals.
“Oakhurst Dairy is proud to support the Food Bank’s efforts to provide more nourishing, healthy food to our Maine neighbors struggling with food insecurity,” said John Bennett, president of Oakhurst, which is based in Portland. “Our pledge to donate 10 percent of pre-tax profits to organizations that promote healthy, active kids and a healthy environment is the cornerstone of our community involvement. Ensuring that Maine’s children and their families have access to nutritious food is a mission that Oakhurst shares with Good Shepherd Food Bank.”
“Good Shepherd Food Bank has been serving the entire state for more than 35 years by sourcing and distributing food to 400 food pantries, meal sites, and other ending hunger partners,” said Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank. “Last year we distributed more than 24 million meals–and we need to do more.”
New numbers out last week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicate that more than 14 percent of Maine households struggle with food insecurity — including one in five children. Maine ranks ninth in the nation for the highest rates of food insecurity and first in the North East. Mainers in central, northern, and Downeast Maine struggle with particularly high rates of food insecurity.
“We have a bold goal of ensuring that all food-insecure Mainers will have access to the nutritious food they need to thrive, when and where they need it, by 2025,” said Miale. “This means at least an additional 10 million meals are needed–beyond what we and our partners are already distributing.”
The Food Bank’s single greatest obstacle to meeting its long term goal of distributing more nutritious meals annually is the limited capacity and location of its existing Auburn-based distribution center. The new distribution center in Hampden will feature three state-of-the-art temperature and humidity controlled zones, which will allow for short- and long-term cold storage of produce, a freezer for storing lightly processed produce, fish, meat, and other perishable products, and an area for dry goods. Enhanced cold storage capacity will allow the Food Bank to source more fresh food–including local farm purchases–for year-round distribution.
“There has been a lot of interest in our project since we publically announced the Food for All capital campaign,” said Erin Fogg, vice president of development for the Food Bank. “We hope that many Mainers will respond to Oakhurst’s generous challenge gift to help get our new distribution center up and running. Every gift will help, and will be doubled in power thanks to Oakhurst.”
The Food Bank purchased the former Bangor Daily News printing plant in 2015 and began limited operations out of the facility in early 2016. Renovations began this summer and are slated to last up to one year. Miale expects the facility will be fully operational by the summer of 2019.
For more information, visit www.feedingmaine.org/hampden or contact Fogg at 207-240-3029 or efogg@gsfb.org.
