MaineGeneral Health Receives Avangrid Foundation Grant
Funds Support Community Health and Hunger Initiatives
MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Peter Alfond Prevention & Healthy Living Center has been awarded a one-year, $50,000 grant from the Avangrid Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Central Maine Power’s parent company Avangrid, to support the health system’s emergency food bag program and healthy cooking and eating classes.
The grant – which doubles the amount the foundation awarded to MaineGeneral last year – helps with the purchase of emergency food bags from Good Shepherd Food Bank, which are distributed to patients experiencing food insecurity when they attend their medical appointments. Additionally, the funds support MaineGeneral’s mobile teaching kitchen that hosts healthy cooking and eating classes in the community.
“We are deeply grateful to the Avangrid Foundation for their continued support of our efforts to address hunger in our community. As a community health system, we recognize that health and hunger are deeply connected. Addressing hunger is important to enhance the overall health of residents in the Kennebec Valley,” said Anne Conners, director of Community Health at MaineGeneral Health.
In 2025, MaineGeneral was able to distribute 1,442 food bags and offer 16 free healthy cooking and eating classes to 235 participants with grant funds. MaineGeneral looks forward to continuing this work in 2026 with Avangrid’s renewed support.
“At the Avangrid Foundation, we believe strong communities start with access to basic needs like healthy food. MaineGeneral’s work in this area reflects that commitment every day. We’re proud to support their ongoing efforts to reduce food insecurity and promote healthier lives across the region,” said Pablo Colón, executive director of the Avangrid Foundation and Avangrid’s director of corporate citizenship. “Providing access to healthy food at the time of screening directly addresses the immediate need while also ensuring the ongoing needs can be addressed through connections to local resources.”
The Avangrid Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that funds philanthropic investments that primarily impact communities where Avangrid, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate. Since 2001, the Avangrid Foundation and its predecessors have invested more than $45 million in partnerships that focus on building sustainable, vital and healthy communities; preserving cultural and artistic heritage; advancing education; and improving people’s lives.
