Facts and History of the Bath Area Food Bank

Organized and Opened in 1988
Four Bath Churches, Bath United Methodist, Corliss Street Baptist, Elim Community, and St. Mary's Catholic, initiated the Food Bank in 1988.

Today
The Bath Area Food Bank now has eleven Church sponsors - the original four, joined by: Day's Ferry Congregational, First Baptist, First Church of the Nazarene, Four Square Gospel, Grace Episcopal, Phippsburg Congregational and United Church of Christ.   The Governing Board is made up of representatives from each church and makes decisions on policy and operating procedures.
Bath Area Services

1.	Food Pantry - This was housed for ten years at the Beacon House annex of the Bath United Methodist Church.   In August of 1998 it moved to the Mid-Coast Health Care Center in Bath where it remained until April of 2003 when it moved to its current location at the United Church of Christ on Congress Avenue in Bath.   It is completely staffed by volunteers from the member churches, local civic organizations and the community at large.   It is Handicapped Accessible.
2.	Clothing Exchange - Located at Corliss Street Baptist Church Annex, it provides clean and usable clothes and shoes for families and individuals at no cost.   It is Handicapped Accessible.
3.	Soup Kitchen - Located at The First Baptist Church, on Elm Street in Bath, it serves free hot lunches, three times a week.   It is Handicapped Accessible.

Ongoing Support
Financial Aid, Clothing and Food are provided by member churches and from the following additional resources:

•	Local restaurants and food markets provide bakery products at no cost.
•	Donations from the community of produce and other items.
•	Local grocery stores are used on an "as-needed" basis for retail purchases.
•	Good Shepard Food Bank, the areas' Regional Food Bank in Lewiston, provides a wonderful resource for Major Food Purchasing.   For a shared maintenance fee of 16¢ per pound, we can buy hundreds of pounds of food at a very low cost.   A dedicated group of volunteers make shopping trips about 3 times per month.
•	Second Harvest works with the Good Shepard to help distribute donations from major companies such as Kraft, General Mills and Nabisco.
•	USDA Food Distributions are a great resource, providing cases of common and appreciated food items At No Cost.
•	Church World Service National C.R.O.P. Walk is a Major Fund Raiser.   Walkers are sponsored for the number of miles that they walk and 25% of the money raised by our Bath walkers goes to the Bath Area Food Bank.
•	Gardner Savings Bank people have been very generous with their support.
•	Postal Workers annual collections have been outstanding and bring in Thousands of pounds of food from the community each year.
•	Local Service Groups such as the Rotary, V.F.W, American Legion, Elks and Knights of Columbus have also provided generous donations of time and materials
•	Specific and General Purpose Grants are received throughout the year from individuals, organizations and various funds.