Maine Credit Unions’ contributes to local food pantry

    HOULTON — St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Houlton received an early holiday present as part of the 6th annual Maine Credit Unions’ Ending Hunger Walking Tour recent visit to Houlton. The tour is a partnership between Maine’s credit unions and Cross Roads Ministries, an Old Town-based hunger agency that serves thousands of Maine people, to cover the state of Maine on foot to raise awareness about the problem of hunger in Maine, and to contribute funds in every community it visits, a record 52 this year.  Locally, the Tour stopped at Houlton FCU in Houlton.
    During the month of November, Brenda Davis, Executive Director of Cross Roads Ministries of Old Town, is traveling throughout the State from Madawaska to Kittery and will cover more than 1,500 miles and walk in each community she visits to bring awareness to the severity that hunger exists in Maine. Brenda is visiting food pantries, hunger organizations and credit unions in each town she visits.  At each credit union, Brenda is picking up a contribution from the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger as a way to support her cause.  In addition, the Campaign is contributing more than $5,000 to food pantries throughout Maine. A food pantry in each community that Brenda visits will receive a $100 contribution.  
    She began her month-long journey on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in Augusta. In all, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger has pledged to contribute more than $20,000 to help end hunger in Maine through this year’s Ending Hunger Walking Tour.
    The Walk, which is expected to encompass between 600-700 miles on foot, will bring Brenda to 52 communities across Maine and concludes with a special ceremony in Bangor on Wednesday, Nov. 28.  
    In its first four years, Brenda has walked more than 2,500 miles to raise awareness for ending hunger and Maine’s credit unions have contributed $77,000 of the $90,000 that the Tour has raised for ending hunger.
    Since 1990, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised over $2.3 million to help end hunger in Maine.
    Formed in 1938, the Maine Credit Union League is the State Trade Association for Maine’s 67-affiliated credit unions providing a variety of services and products to assist credit unions in meeting the needs of their membership.  For complete Tour updates, visit www.mainecul.org.