On June 9, 2022, the Maine Auctioneers Association convened their annual meeting at the Senator Inn in Augusta, Maine, and held a charity auction raising over $4,200 to benefit the association and the Good Shepherd Food Bank.
$4,287.50 was raised by auctioning off ten donated items with the proceeds to be split between the Good Shepherd Food Bank and the Maine Auctioneers Association. The MAA wanted to revive a tradition with the auctioneers to help raise money for the association and also benefit a worthwhile local nonprofit organization that supports the community. The Good Shepherd Food Bank came up as an obvious candidate with food insecurity being a serious issue in Maine, particularly since the pandemic.
Donors of items to be sold at the charity auction included:
- Maine Antique Digest, which donated a full page color ad that sold for $1,600
- Newtown Bee, which also donated a full page color ad that sold for $1,450
- Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, which gave a 50% discount off an ad that sold for $400
- Rockland Golf Club and auctioneer Bruce Gamage, who donated a round of golf with cart for four people that sold for $225
- Antique Trader, which donated a subscription to the publication that sold for $65.
Other items were donated by various auctioneers, some of whom auctioned off their own donated items.
For 35 years the Good Shepherd Food Bank has been dedicated to ending hunger in Maine through many food programs and by engaging in advocacy, supporting nutrition programs and by strategic partnership with other like-minded organizations. While the donation from the charity auction is modest, the hope is that it helps alleviate the problem of hunger in Maine even a little.