Recording artist Jonathan Edwards was the keynote speaker at the celebration marking the successful conclusion of the Maine credit unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger. The credit unions raised a record $471,744.42 in 2012, a nearly $25,000 increase over the campaign from a year earlier. The leveraged buying power of such a contribution will allow food pantries and hunger organizations to buy nearly $7 million worth of food to help the state's hungry, the Maine Credit Union League said.

“The generosity of the nearly 627,000 credit union members in Maine is extraordinary,” said League President John Murphy. “This marks the seventeenth consecutive year that the Campaign has raised a record-setting total. To raise nearly a half a million dollars this past year is especially remarkable in such a challenging economy.”