ORONO, Maine — The University Credit Union has a new three-day initiative that aims to support some of the restaurants in Orono and give back to hungry Mainers.
From Tuesday, June 22 to Thursday, June 24, people can visit any of the six participating Orono restaurants listed below. The University Credit Union will donate $5 per order to the Campaign for Ending Hunger.
Participating restaurants:
- Orono House Of Pizza
- Woodman's
- The Common Loon
- Black Bear Nutrition
- The Family Dog
- Tacorita
UCU will donate up to $5,000 to the Campaign for Ending Hunger.
The Campaign for Ending Hunger is a $100,000 challenge the Maine Credit Union's fundraiser to help end hunger in Maine. Last year, the challenge raised more than $230,000.
Funds donated go back into our local communities through 75% reaching local food pantries and meal sites and 25% reaching Good Shepherd Food Bank.
"The restaurant industry was an industry that was really hard hit, probably one of the hardest-hit out there, and we were trying to find a way that we could try to help them out while also helping feed our communities. We thought what better way to do that than the credit union, restaurant owners, and restaurant-goers working together to kind of come up with a common goal of feeding the community but also helping to try to boost some sales for restaurants around the area," said Derek Hebert, business services manager at United Credit Union.
Orono restaurants were hit particularly hard because of the lack of students around the University of Maine campus. The Orono campus closed its doors for an extended period of time in 2020 - 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
To learn more about the challenge or if people would like to donate to help to end hunger, they can do so by clicking here.
