MILLINOCKET – The first truckload of supplies to help people affected by the 33-day shutdown of Great Northern Paper Inc. arrived Monday at food pantries in East Millinocket and Millinocket.

The donated food from the Good Shepherd Food Bank came just in time. Food pantries at the Tri-Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket and I Care Ministries in Millinocket were running low.

“We were pretty well wiped out from last week,” said Pastor Herschel Hafford of I Care Ministries in Millinocket. “There is a lot of need. Most of the work we are doing is with the people who are affected by the layoffs.”

Approximately 1,100 workers have been displaced by the bankruptcy and shutdown of the paper mills in the two towns.

“They are getting full,” said Dave Blaisdell of the pantry shelves at the East Millinocket church. “We received 7,464 pounds of food.”

It didn’t take long to unload the food. About 60 displaced GNP workers quickly arrived at the Baptist church and formed a human chain that ran from the church’s handicap access ramp right into the basement. “It worked great,” said Blaisdell. “We were pretty amazed at the amount of food coming through.”

Hafford said the Millinocket church had served 73 families last month and 112 already this month. “We have a waiting list of 35 to 40,” he said. Hafford is urging people with food or other needs to make an appointment by calling 723-7977. The church’s pantry is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 45 Spring St.

Blaisdell said the pantry at Tri-Town Baptist Church has served 60 to 70 families. More than 20 people received food Monday. He said the church pantry would be manned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. three days a week beginning today. This week the pantry will be open Tuesday, Jan. 28, Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Friday, Jan. 31. Beginning next week, the pantry will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Our goal is to make sure no one in the state of Maine goes hungry,” said Joann Pike, the founder of Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn. The food bank provides food to about 450 pantries, shelters and soup kitchens across the state. Pike said the food was donated by various food industries such as Hannaford Bros. The Auburn-based food bank does not charge for the food, but does accept grants and donations which are used to help cover the costs of properly storing the food and costs for distributing it. “We want to continue to send food up until people get stabilized or Great Northern opens again,” she said.

Pike said a small truckload of food will be shipped Wednesday to help stock pantries at the Chester Baptist Church and to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lincoln. For information about the pantries, call Wayne and Ruth Perry in Chester at 794-2541 and Mel Voisine of St. Mary’s Food Cupboard at 794-3510.

Hafford said Georgia Pacific Corp.’s Old Town mill is donating paper products to people affected by the shutdown.

Although the two churches are currently well stocked with food items, Hafford and Blaisdell said the pantries need other items such as pampers and baby wipes, household cleaning products, personal hygiene and feminine products. Anyone who wants to donate to the church pantries should call Blaisdell at 746-2211 or Hafford at 723-7977.

People wanting to donate to the Good Shepherd Food Bank, should send their donations to The Good Shepherd Food Bank, P.O. Box 1807, Auburn 04211.

The Department of Labor will hold four Trade Act makeup sessions for GNP employees who have not attended earlier meetings. The sessions will be held at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Career Center of the Katahdin Region Higher Education Center, formerly known as KATEC, in East Millinocket.

For information about food stamps and emergency assistance, officials from the Maine Department of Human Services will be available 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, and Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Career Center.

To get assistance

People affected by the Great Northern shutdown who need assistance should contact the following:

For food:

. I Care Ministries in Millinocket at 723-7977;

. Tri-Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket at 746-2211;

. The town offices in Millinocket, 723-7010; East Millinocket 746-3551; or Medway, 746-9531;

For fuel-energy assistance:

. St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Millinocket at 723-5902, ask for Dot Howard or Father Richard Malo;

. The Congregational Church in East Millinocket at 746-5575;

. PENQUIS CAP at 723-4994 in Millinocket, or 794-3093 in Lincoln.