AUBURN — Good Shepherd Food Bank announced it will award the 2017 JoAnn Pike Humanitarian Award to Hannaford Supermarkets in honor of the company’s exceptional service to the community.

The award will be presented at a celebratory dinner open to the public at the food bank’s warehouse at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6. The facility will be transformed into a fine dining room with 12 of Maine’s finest chefs providing dinner.

Each year Good Shepherd Food Bank selects an award recipient in honor of its founder, JoAnn Pike. This year the Food Bank is inviting the community to come together to honor Hannaford, which has partnered with the food bank since the organization’s early years.

Hannaford has formalized its community efforts under a program called Hannaford Helps. Hunger-relief is the core of the program. In 2016, Hannaford donated more than 25 million pounds of food to food pantries, meal programs and food banks across its five-state footprint. Nonperishable food is donated to regional food banks, including Good Shepherd Food Bank, throughout the year. In addition, Hannaford stores make daily donations of fresh food, such as produce, meat and bread to local food pantries.

Hannaford has been working with regional food banks and pantries to further improve systems for recovering harder-to-handle fresh items, making sure that there can be regular pickups, and ensuring pantries have the processes and equipment to handle that food safely. The company has either donated or helped pantries and food banks purchase vans, refrigerated truck trailers, refrigeration units and other equipment.

The JoAnn Pike Humanitarian Award Dinner will also provide guests with the opportunity for a behind-the-scenes look at the facility that sent 21 million meals across the state in 2016. The facility functions as a warehouse, but on that day it will be transformed into a fine dining room with 12 of Maine’s finest chefs providing dinner.

Tickets are $100. To purchase tickets or a table for $750, visit gsfb.org/joann-pike-humanitarian-award-dinner. To be a sponsor for the event, contact Julie Guerette at jguerette@gsfb.org or call 207-782-3554, ext. 1164.

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