A flood of donations will allow a food bank that distributes 1.5 million pounds of food annually in York County to stay open through the holiday season.

York County Food Rescue, a nonprofit that distributes food free of charge to nearly 50 food pantries and soup kitchens, had run out of cash and was in danger of closing after this week, but donations received Monday and Tuesday will allow it to stay open.

The Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign to End Hunger announced Tuesday it contributed $2,000 to the Alfred-based food rescue program, which will allow it to receive a $2,500 matching pledge from an anonymous donor. Bangor Savings Bank has notified the program that its branches will put out collection boxes for donations and that the company will match up to $2,000 in donations.

Director Jodi Bissonnette said donations received since the weekend total $4,995.50. People from as far away as New Jersey have called to say they will send donations after hearing that the agency could shut down, she said.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing all day. Even the smallest checks help immensely.”

Bissonnette said she was told Friday by the board of directors that the food rescue program had completely run out of cash. The organization has received fewer cash donations than it anticipated and already has gone through its $110,000 annual budget because it has distributed more food than expected. It also is waiting on funding from grants that could not be awarded while the organization was waiting for its nonprofit status to be approved.

“(These donations) should get us through the holidays. After that, we should be in pretty good shape,” she said. “We don’t anticipate having this issue again. We just had a little hiccup.”

For the past 12 years, the program has distributed food collected from grocery stores and from the U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities program free of charge to food pantries and similar programs. Last year it distributed about 1.5 million pounds of food to 45 food pantries, soup kitchens and social service agencies across the county.

The food rescue program has distributed 1 million pounds of food to about 50,000 people so far this year, with the busiest part of the year still to come. By the end of the year, Bissonnette expects that if her organization stays open it would surpass the 1.5 million pounds of food it distributed last year.

John Murphy, president of the Maine Credit Union League, said the donation from the organization’s Campaign to End Hunger was made after officials saw media reports about the program’s plight.

“Many food pantries in York County count on the program for food, so it’s closure would mark a major crisis for many who provide food to the thousands of people in York County who otherwise would go hungry,” he said in a prepared statement.

More than 26,000 people struggle with food insecurity in York County, according to Feeding America. The food insecurity rate in Maine is nearly 15 percent, meaning about 200,000 people don’t have enough food to maintain a healthy diet. Nearly 1 in 4 children is considered food insecure, according to the USDA. Maine ranks 18th in the country and first in New England in food insecurity.

 

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