JoAnn Pike’s Vision Continues to Inspire Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Critical Work
JoAnn Pike was an indomitable force, founding Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine and leading its work for 23 years. Initially stirred by an article she read about a similar operation in Kansas, where she had been born and raised, JoAnn was dismayed by witnessing the negative effects of hunger among her peers and within her community.
Inspired by the power of food to help people, JoAnn would follow her passion for many years. First, she began to procure and share food out of her living room in Auburn. Soon after, in 1981 she officially founded the Food Bank. In 1983, she formed a partnership with Hannaford to directly donate previously discarded food, a collaboration that lives on to this day. JoAnn moved the Food Bank’s operations many times to accommodate its growth and rallied the community to build the current distribution center in Auburn, which is named for and dedicated to her.
We now know that at the time of Good Shepherd Food Bank’s founding, JoAnn stood at the precipice of a movement. She embarked upon this new and unknown body of work in tandem with other inspired leaders across the country in what began the rapid nationwide growth of food banks in the 1980s.
Forever thinking of the Food Bank’s future, at the time of her death, only one month after retiring from the Food Bank, JoAnn’s family honored her wishes by asking that donations in her memory be made to eliminate the mortgage at the Food Bank. Today, we honor and continue JoAnn’s work every day, and we have named our Legacy Circle for her, honoring the inspired leadership that forms the roots of the Food Bank’s current work.
We’re Here to Help
Like JoAnn, you too can make an impact with your vision by creating an estate plan that reflects your values and strengthens our ability to help Mainers facing hunger. Please contact Erin Peck Yarema at (207) 344-1248 or eyarema@gsfb.org to learn about the many ways you can build the Food Bank’s legacy along with yours.