AUBURN — Dead River Company will be honored with the JoAnn Pike Humanitarian Award at a gala dinner at Good Shepherd Food Bank on April 4. Dead River Company has become a leader in Maine hunger relief efforts in recent years, in addition to supporting numerous other charitable causes throughout northern New England.
Each year, Good Shepherd Food Bank selects an award recipient in honor of its founder, JoAnn Pike, who started a food bank in her home in 1981 to provide food for her neighbors in need. This year the Food Bank is inviting the community to come together to honor an outstanding family-owned, Maine-based business and advance the important mission of ending hunger in Maine.
Through its Share the Warmth charitable giving program, Dead River has made a commitment to giving back to the community with a primary focus on food and heating assistance. Over the past two years, the company donated over $250,000 in food and heating assistance, including providing the needed funds for Good Shepherd Food Bank to purchase a tractor-trailer truck. “Charitable gifts are just one way in which Dead River Company delivers on our promise to support the most basic necessities of life – food and fuel,” stated Bob Moore, Dead River Company president. “Our employees are also directly involved through acts of volunteerism, local fundraising efforts and food drives.”
Dead River Company is supportive of multiple charitable causes beyond hunger relief and fuel assistance. As a strong advocate of education, Dead River Company supports Junior Achievement of Maine, Jobs for Maine Graduates, Maine College Circle, the Foundation for Maine’s Community Colleges, and Educate Maine. As a believer in the benefits they bring to a community, Dead River Company has long sponsored the arts, including programming at the Portland Museum of Arts, Portland Ovations, Maine State Music Theatre, Houlton Community Arts Center and both the Bangor and Portland Symphony Orchestras. Throughout its northern New England footprint, Dead River Company also supports a myriad of local nonprofits in the many communities it serves.
Its outstanding level of commitment to supporting the people of New England, and especially its dedication to fighting hunger, has earned Dead River Company the 2013 JoAnn Pike Humanitarian Award.
Fifteen percent of Maine households lack access to enough nutritious food and one in four Maine children face hunger each day. The Food Bank is the primary hub of Maine’s hunger relief network, partnering with 600 local hunger relief agencies throughout the state to feed more than 100,000 people each month. Due to efficiencies in the food banking system, Good Shepherd Food Bank provides 4 meals to Maine families with each dollar donated to the organization.
This celebration will serve as a signature opportunity to raise funds needed to eliminate hunger in Maine communities. Sponsors for the event include Hannaford Supermarkets, TD Bank, and WEX.
For information about sponsoring this event please visit http://gsfb.org/get-involved/events/ or contact Julie Sexton at jsexton@gsfb.org or (207) 782-3554 ext. 1164.
