PORTLAND, Maine - Maine's only statewide food bank will get $3 million from the state to help buy food for hungry Mainers.
Kristen Miale, the president of Good Shepherd Food Bank, says the money will provide some much-needed stability for the organization.
"Up until now we've been almost entirely dependent on year-to-year individual and philanthropic funding," Maile says, "and for a program like this that's become so important to our farmers, and to the people that we serve, having at least a three-year source of funding is great."
Good Shepherd Food Bank buys food from Maine farmers and fisheries, and distributes it through food pantries throughout the state - Miale says about 178,000 Mainers use the food bank every year. She also says it's become important for the state's farmers and fishermen.
Funding comes from the settlement the tobacco industry made with states back in 1998, which is administered in Maine by the Fund for a Healthy Maine.
