SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine–With demand for services and resources continuing to surge at the South Portland Food Cupboard, Town & Country FCU said it delivered a timely contribution to support the Food Cupboard in the short-term and provide significant support to its largest, single fundraiser happening later this spring.
The credit union presented a $5,000 check to help the Food Cupboard immediately and announced an additional $5,000-$10,000 in-kind contribution that will be used for media advertising to promote the Food Cupboard’s 2024 “Feeding Neighbors in Need” benefit concert. The concert will take place on May 18 at Aura in Portland and feature The Don Campbell Band.
Jim Welch, operations manager at the Food Cupboard, said that the Food Cupboard is currently serving more than 800 families each week in South Portland and other communities in Cumberland and York Counties.
“This contribution comes at a time when we see need continuing to rise and this will help us in our efforts to keep up with demand. The additional $5,000-$10,000 in-kind contribution will also help raise awareness, interest and attendance at our benefit concert, which has quickly grown into our largest, single-fundraiser. We appreciate the strong support of Town & Country in our mission of feeding neighbors.”
Added Town & Country’s SVP-Communications, Marketing and Commujnity Outreach Jon Paradise, the contribution represents the credit union’s commitment to “making a difference in our community. This gets to the heart of our ‘local helping local’ initiative, which is about supporting not only the financial needs of our communities but the other challenges, too. It is eye-opening to hear the numbers of families that the South Portland Food Cupboard serves directly and through other food pantries in southern Maine, and to also hear that these numbers continue to increase significantly. Providing funds to ensure that the Food Cupboard can continue to meet these needs is critical, as food insecurity is a paramount issue and problem for many of our neighbors. The credit union has been a partner of the Food Cupboard from the beginning and has been steadfast in our support ever since. We are grateful for the incredible work that the Food Cupboard’s staff and volunteers do on behalf of our community each day, and a contribution of $10K+ is recognition of our appreciation.”