The year 2012 marked yet another record-setting year for the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger. The year’s total funds raised was $471,744.42, nearly $25,000 more than last year’s record.

Through buying power, the funds will enable food pantries and hunger organizations to purchase nearly $7-million worth of food to help Maine’s hungry. This impressive total was announced at a special event in February, which included an address by Jonathan Edwards, a top-selling and enduring musician who has had multiple hits over the years including a Top 5 song, “Sunshine.”

Edwards, who now lives in Cape Elizabeth, said he is “so touched by the sense of community and willingness to help others that Maine credit unions have captured through this Campaign. It is really impressive and I am honored to be a part of it. Thank you for spreading some ‘sunshine’ to the problem of hunger in Maine.”

Each summer, the Campaign holds a “Share the Bread” event, when along with loaves of bread, Maine credit unions contribute $17,000 in one of the largest single-day contributions to multiple hunger organizations in Maine, to organizations in every county in the state.

Jon Paradise, AVP of Governmental & Public Affairs manager for the Maine Credit Union League, said that events like this are about more than donating much need funds, they are also about raising awareness.

“As we recognize the significance of hunger in Maine and, most specifically, feeding a number of Maine’s children during summer vacation when there are not meals provided at school, Maine’s Credit Unions will provide resources to help organizations in each county make a positive impact on thousands of people in Maine.”

To ensure that even the most rural Maine towns receive the food they need, the Campaign partnered with Good Shepherd Food Bank in 2005 to introduce the state’s only Food Mobile, Since its inception, the Food Mobile program has distributed 2,693,000 pounds of food throughout the state.

The Food Mobile continues to be an invaluable resource to Maine’s food pantries, not only because of the rise of gas and oil prices, but throughout the winter months when the truck is able to travel to remote food pantries that may have trouble sending someone to pick up food. The Food Mobile celebrates its eighth anniversary this year.

Since 1990, the Maine Credit Unions’ Campaign for Ending Hunger has raised $4.8 million to help end hunger in Maine.

For more information on how you can help Maine’s Credit Unions end hunger, visit www.mainecul.org and click on the Ending Hunger link under “Community Involvement.”

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