Corinth food pantry receives major donation from company partnerships

CORINTH, Maine (WABI) – Food pantries are all about giving, and on Wednesday, that support was reciprocated.

Several companies came together to donate two large refrigeration units, valued up to $30,000, to one local pantry.

Worldwide refrigeration company Heatcraft, along with Maine partners Sid Harvey and Ogden Mechanical, visited Corinth to show how cool it is to be kind.

Heatcraft CFO Clint Southern describes Cool to be Kind: “It’s a Heatcraft program where we donate refrigeration equipment. We partner with our distributor partners that also have good contacts and contractors within the community who also want to give back.”

“We chose Maine because we’re really trying to make an effort to give back to the communities in which we serve,” explains Bob Moody, Sid Harvey’s V.P. of operations and marketing, when Heatcraft approached them about the program.

Moody goes on to say a Sid Harvey branch manager knew exactly where to direct their efforts: Safe Place Food Pantry.

Serving over 840 families every month, the food pantry was in need of more refrigeration space to keep perishable items fresh.

“This broadens everything out more, a lot more,” Bud Drew, manager of Safe Place, expresses. “We can reach out for more needy people. We’re open two weeks a month, and so, there’s a gap in between that, and this helps us to keep everything good and fresh.”

Not only will the extra space home more food, but the efficient refrigeration will help the pantry save on electricity and allow for a wider selection of fresh, local produce.

Mark Ogden, owner of Ogden Mechanical, says his team of seven took about 16 hours Tuesday installing the two units.

“These are Heatcraft units with intelliGen control. Both units extremely versatile, wonderful piece of equipment,” Ogden explains of the installations. “It’s super important for myself, my family, my team, the guys on my team, that kind of hit the pause button and help on these projects when you can. Giving back is extremely important to us.”

The refrigerator and freezer weren’t the only things donated. Heatcraft also surprised Safe Place with a check to the tune of $10,000!

Drew says seeing the large check left him speechless, “They couldn’t have done a greater thing.

”After serving these communities for so long, all companies involved say it’s only right to give back when they can.

“I think with having many organizations to be part of it, we have a lot of resources. It’s really important that we do give back and that we do it together,” says Moody. “And it’s a great, great partnership for business, but it’s also nice to put business aside and do something for the community.”

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