About

Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry feeds and serves the hungry of Hancock County, striving to eliminate food insecurity in our community.

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Our history

Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry was created 40+ years ago to support our neighbors facing food insecurity — a mission that today is more relevant than ever.

We treat everyone with respect, so they leave the pantry with dignity and hope as well as groceries.

We’re 99% volunteer-driven and receive support from individual donors, businesses, municipalities, foundations and through community fundraising events.

Officers and staff

Photos courtesy of Down East Photography

CO-PRESIDENT

Clyde Cushing

Ellsworth

Clyde is a Special Education Teacher working in the younger grades. He's a community member who has served as a volunteer firefighter for 25 years, as well as a member of the Ellsworth Rotary Club. A trustee since 2016, Clyde enjoys golf and the outdoors in his downtime.

CO-PRESIDENT

Tracy Shaffer

Ellsworth

Tracy moved to Ellsworth after retiring from Verizon post a 25+ year career. An ordained deacon in The Episcopal Church, Tracy remains an active Rotarian after serving as President of the Ellsworth club in 2018–19.

VICE PRESIDENT

Max Dietshe

Trenton

Max recently retired from a career in corporate communications and user experience design to work on marketing and development for the pantry. He and his wife, novelist W.S. Winslow (wswinslow.com), moved full-time to their Trenton "camp" in 2019.

TREASURER

Beth Cole

Prospect Harbor

Beth retired from her career as a non-profit executive in January 2022. Her late husband Jim’s family is from Corea, and she has been spending summer vacations in Prospect Harbor for 35 years. She now resides there five months of the year. In addition to her interest in eradicating hunger, she is an avid traveler and enjoys cooking and pickleball.

SECRETARY

Ann Sargent

Ellsworth

Annie has deep roots in Hancock County. She's worked in adult education programs in Downeast Maine since 1986. She is dedicated to working in partnership with individuals, organizations and businesses to assist people in reaching their potential by breaking down the barriers to achieving their goals at the individual, community and societal level.

Board of Trustees

Photos courtesy of Down East Photography

Joe Bruno

Blue Hill

A retired financial IT executive and lifelong optimist, Joe resides in Blue Hill with his partner, Rachel. He's been playing golf and guitar since youth and enjoys volunteering, cooking, practicing and teaching yoga, hiking and travel.

Debra Gillespie-Fowles

Ellsworth

A retired housing coordinator and case manager, Debra grew up in Massachusetts and lived in Guilford for almost 25 years before moving to Ellsworth. She is a tireless volunteer for the pantry.

Dennis Ihle

Ellsworth

Denny retired from the US Navy after 23 years of service in 1988, then worked for another 17+ years for the Department of the Navy in civil service and as a contractor. He lives in the house he built himself in 1983 which, he notes, is still standing! In addition to serving on the pantry Board and volunteering weekly in the market, he helps other local non-profits including the Cole Land Transportation Museum and the Schoodic Institute. He is a talented woodworker who enjoys keeping up with his four grandchildren.

Dale Joyce

Ellsworth

Dale owns Down East Photography in Ellsworth, having become a fulltime commerical photographer and artist after a long career in software development. He and his wife split their time between Swan's Island and Ellsworth, and is a major Sci-Fi fan – so much so that he named their tiny yorkie-pom Tribble.

George Marnik

Mariaville

George and his wife Margarita moved to Maine in 1978 and have two children living in the area. He retired in 2016 after a 45 year career in education, serving as a teacher and high school principal on Deer Isle and MDI, as a member of the graduate faculty in Educational Leadership at UMaine, and as a consultant in leadership development. In retirement, George has found much more time to enjoy being with his grandchildren, travel with his wife, fly fish, and hunt/photograph wildlife and the natural world (when not at the pantry).

Georgeann Snead

Castine

After a 30-year career leading an employee-owned manufacturing company in Virginia, Georgeann relocated to Maine, where in the next phase of her life she’s devoting her energy to working and volunteering in the nonprofit world. She loves cooking, feeding people and being outside enjoying the beauty of Maine.

Daniel Wilkey

Lamoine

Dan joined our team in 2022 as a volunteer and quickly became the volunteer coordinator as well as a member of the Board of Trustees. Dan spent his career in the IT/ telecommunications field in the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2017, he and his husband David found a summer home here in Lamoine. They are extremely active in many areas of the local community and enjoy traveling when not volunteering.