Very good Shepherd Food Lender claims billionaire’s donation to support mission

A employee packs foodstuff packing containers at Great Shepherd Meals Financial institution. Good Shepherd Food items Financial institution photograph

AUBURN — The individuals of Very good Shepherd Meals Lender are thrilled to say the least. 

Slated to get a chunk of a $4 billion donation from creator and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, Great Shepherd organizers say the cash will aid them get more food items to extra people today who desperately need to have it. 

How will they use the revenue? 

“We are promptly convening our board of directors, leadership staff, and other stakeholders,” President Kristen Miale stated, “and performing really hard to guarantee that the philanthropy entrusted to us will assistance more Mainers obtain far more nutritious food items equitably and proficiently — now throughout the crisis of COVID-19, and for the lengthy time period.”  

It is not crystal clear exactly how substantially Great Shepherd will receive. The Foodstuff Lender expects to receive its gift early in 2021 and ideas to share details at that time and how it will be invested across Maine’s charitable food community. 

“MacKenzie Scott’s expense in Maine is a vote of self-assurance in the get the job done we are all carrying out together to conclusion starvation in our good point out,” Miale said. “From our a lot more than 500 neighborhood partners and our foodstuff donors, to all the folks, corporations and foundations that assistance us with financial contributions at each stage — we should really all sense proud to acquire this national and international recognition.” 

Scott announced the donations Tuesday via a weblog publish on Medium, with several of the recipients serving susceptible populations that have been hit excess challenging by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In accordance to Very good Shepherd, the announcement will come as Maine is in the midst of an unparalleled starvation disaster. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine had the 12th greatest food stuff insecurity price in the country with 180,000 Mainers relying on Fantastic Shepherd Food items Bank and its statewide network of companions. Nowadays, that amount methods 215,000 individuals, at the very least 60,000 of whom are little ones, with households of shade going through disproportionately larger rates of starvation. 

Based mostly on knowledge from Feeding The us, the premier starvation-reduction firm in the U.S., Very good Shepherd Meals Bank estimates there are all around 13 million foods lacking from the plates of Mainers this calendar year, on best of the 27.2 million foods the Foodstuff Financial institution and its partners are giving. The group aims to near this meal gap by 2025. 

Good Shepherd Food items Bank not too long ago printed facts demonstrating the effect of its network’s get the job done in the past yr. Even with major foods sourcing difficulties in the course of the top of the pandemic, the Meals Lender dispersed two million much more meals 12 months-more than-year whilst increasing the sum of domestically grown and generated meals by 25%. To help bolster the statewide exertion, the Food stuff Bank granted more than $1 million to foods pantries, food sites, educational institutions, and other associates across the condition, together with grants to organizations led by and serving communities of shade for sourcing culturally related food. 

“The philanthropic financial commitment from MacKenzie Scott will be an accelerator and amplifier as we function toward the goal of ending starvation in Maine, but the difficulty is larger than what any just one philanthropist can fix,” Miale said. “Ending starvation and its devastating results in our excellent condition is inside our reach when we all come with each other and lead to the remedy. With this expense and the ongoing generosity of all Mainers, together we can finish hunger.” 

For additional information and facts, pay a visit to feedingmaine.org. 

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