AUBURN — During the COVID-19 pandemic, employees at Auburn Medical Associates, a primary care practice that serves some 9,000 people, began to notice more people fitting the description of “food insecure.”

Ashley Goodwin, the practice manager, said that at the time, staff members felt stuck. They were identifying more people in need, but could do nothing about it, other than sending them home with a list of community resources.

Some staff members were grabbing snacks out of their desks to give away, Goodwin said.

In late 2021, however, Goodwin helped launch a program that provides emergency food kits to patients facing food insecurity.

In the past year, 74 emergency food kits and hundreds of food resource guides have been distributed to help 115 adults and 33 children in the area.

“It’s been really incredible to see everyone come together because they recognize the importance of it,” she said. “You could tell they really just wanted to be able to do more to support people.”

Goodwin, an Auburn native, has worked for St. Mary’s Health System for 18 years — the past four at Auburn Medical Associates — and also serves on its mission advisory committee.

Members of the committee, also including Tricia Cook, operations manager at St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, teamed up to come up with the program.

Not long after, if a patient were screened and deemed food insecure, he or she would be offered a food kit that included a protein, grain, fruit and vegetable. It began as a pilot project with just 10 kits, but the demand was there, Goodwin said.

The screening focuses on whether the person is worried about not having enough money to buy groceries or not having enough food to last until the next paycheck comes in.

“Before you knew it, it was moving from one a month to almost daily,” Goodwin said of handing out the kits.

Each time a kit is given out, the patient also receives an “Androscoggin County Community Food Resources Guide,” with information on accessing nutrition assistance, meals for kids, food pantries and soups kitchens.

At one point in the program, Goodwin said, the nutrition center was lacking food on its own shelves, so St. Mary’s cafeteria partner, Metz Culinary Management, delivered extra food to get the center through.

Elizabeth Keene, vice president of mission integration for St. Mary’s, who was also part of the effort, said St. Mary’s is “blessed” to have Goodwin.

“She is committed to the healing of our patients, the well-being of our employees and to ensuring our community thrives,” Keene said. “She is concerned with aspects of medical care beyond physical illness and care that extend to the social aspects of well-being, which can positively influence health.”

Goodwin said “it takes a village” to create programs like this, and make a positive impact in the community.

“The compassion, empathy and support I see every day is inspiring,” she said. “We’re a team. It’s not just me. I helped get it going, but the reason it’s successful is because of the people who are working with patients every day.”

Know someone with a deep well of unlimited public spirit? Someone who gives of their time to make their community a better place? Then nominate them for Kudos. Send their name and the place where they do their good deeds to reporter Andrew Rice at arice@sunjournal.com and we’ll do the rest.

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