CARIBOU, Maine — From Oct. 27-30, the 13th annual Maine Credit Unions’ Ending Hunger Walking Tour made stops in 11 communities in Aroostook County.
Brenda Davis, executive director of Cross Roads Ministries in Old Town, as well as a hunger organization serving eastern Maine and one of the state’s leading ending hunger advocates, has been partnering with Maine’s credit unions to coordinate the Ending Hunger Walking Tour for the past 13 years. Combined, the contributions to food pantries in the eleven communities will help purchase more than $17,500 in food and hunger assistance.
The purpose of the Walk was to raise awareness and distribute some of the statewide funds raised by the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger. They hope to raise awareness about the severity of hunger in Maine.
Because many parts of Maine are rural in nature, many people have to travel great distances to receive food assistance. In a number of instances, these people lack the transportation necessary to receive that assistance and are forced to walk miles to the nearest food bank or pantry.
Davis explained that this was an issue she has been involved with for much of her adult life, and hunger and homelessness are problems that have not gone away.
“Hunger, homelessness and the transportation problems that accompany them are things that are still affecting people in rural areas,” said Davis. “I grew up in a rural area and have seen the problem my whole life. I’ve witness the lack of resources people need to survive, and hunger and money are only two of them.”
The Walk, in part, symbolizes the struggle that many Mainers go through just to get food for their families. The Walk is a partnership between Maine’s credit unions and Davis to build awareness about the problem of hunger in Maine during the month of November, which has been designated as National Hunger and Homeless Awareness month, and is part of the larger Campaign.
“Maine has the highest incidence of food insecurity in New England, and one of the highest nationwide. Nearly 15 percent of the population does not have enough to eat, including one out of four Maine children,” said Jon Paradise, vice president of governmental and public affairs for the Maine Credit Union League, and who is also the coordinator of the Maine Credit Union’s Campaign for Ending Hunger. “Part of the mission of the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger is to not only raise funds to help reduce hunger in Maine but to also raise awareness about the problem of hunger in Maine.”
In 2002, the Walking Tour was conceived by Davis and Paradise, along with the Maine Credit Union League’s Social Responsibility committee. In 2013, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger raised a record-setting $513,000 and since it began, the tour has covered more than 10,000 miles.
The 2014 Tour kicked off with a pre-walk celebration in Old Town at Penobscot County FCU on Oct. 23 followed by the official walk kick-off on Friday, Oct. 24, at Maine State Credit Union in Augusta, and representatives from credit unions, food pantries, local Rotary chapters, colleges and the general public are expected to walk with Davis in each community.
At each of the 91 credit union locations she visited, Davis picked up a contribution from the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger as a way to support her cause. In addition, the Campaign will make a contribution in each community Davis visits.
“Hunger and poverty are diseases within our society,” Davis added. “Transportation is often an issue for elderly and the poor, so with this walk we hope to not only raise money to end hunger, but bring awareness to each individual community we visit.”
After trekking their way north, they reached Aroostook County, where the walkers stopped in Ashland, Caribou, Eagle Lake, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Houlton, Madawaska, Presque Isle, St. Agatha, St. Francis and Van Buren. Checks for $113 each (commemorative of this being the Tour’s 13th year), were presented at each stop. Each check purchases approximately $1,500 in food through the Good Shepherd Food Bank. Food pantries receiving a contribution include: Ashland Food Pantry; United Baptist Church Food Pantry in Caribou; St. Mary’s Food Pantry in Eagle Lake; Friends Helping Friends in Fort Fairfield; Greater Fort Kent Ecumenical Food Pantry; Adopt-A-Block of Aroostook Food Pantry in Houlton; St. Thomas Aquinas/St. David Food Pantry in Madawaska; Grace Interfaith Food Table in Presque Isle; Adopt-A-Block St. Joseph’s Food Pantry in Sinclair; St. Charles Food Pantry in St. Francis; and St. Peter-Chanel Parish Food Pantry in Van Buren.
As the largest in eastern Maine, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger will contribute to a food pantry in each of the 83 communities that the Tour visits. Davis and her fellow walkers visited NorState and County Federal Credit Unions in Van Buren, Fort Fairfield, Caribou and Presque Isle Oct. 29, before continuing to The County Federal Credit Union in Houlton Oct. 30.
The walk will conclude with a ceremony at University Credit Union in Orono on Wednesday, December 3. This year’s walk will visit every county in Maine, encompass 750-800 miles on foot (nearly 1,800 combined by car and foot), 84 communities and 92 credit union locations, both new records. This is the only Ending Hunger Walk of its kind in the nation and received the top community-service award in the Credit Union Movement in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“It’s important for people to work to end hunger in their own communities, and to remember that I’m not walking to raise money for Cross Roads Ministries, but for each of the communities we visit,” said Davis.
Since 1990, the Maine Credit Union’s Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised over $5.3 million to help end hunger in Maine, with this being the 25th year of the campaign. Contributions to the Campaign are tax-deductible and 100 percent of all funds raised go directly to the cause of ending hunger and stay in Maine.
To make a contribution, stop by any local credit union or go online to www.mainecul.org.
