New ‘Mrs. Worldwide 2022’ focuses on food insecurity issues

By Ed Pierce

If Misty Coolidge keeps acquiring pageant titles, soon she’ll have no place left to put all her crowns.

Misty Coolidge of New Gloucester was
crowned the 2022 Mrs. Worldwide
on July 7. Coolidge, who also is the
reigning Mrs. USA, says she hopes to
use her title to promote public
awareness of food insecurity worldwide.
SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Coolidge, who is the reigning Mrs. USA title holder, competed virtually because of the pandemic on July 7 for a chance to win her first international title against four divisions of women. She was honored to be crowned as Mrs. Worldwide 2022 and hopes to use her title to further expand her efforts to crush hunger across the globe.

Even before she was involved in pageantry, Coolidge’s passion for fighting hunger has been evident for more than two decades in every community that she’s lived in, from Bangor to Portland, and now through her volunteer efforts on behalf of the Good Shepherd Food Bank. She said that her mission is a personal one having grown up with a single mom who worked three jobs to put food on the table and relied upon food stamps and the WIC program to survive.

Before assuming the duties as the Mrs. USA title holder in July 2021, Coolidge says she knew she needed to formulate a plan to bring her passion nationwide, so she created her “Helping Hands for Hunger” campaign.

“The 19 states for Feed America that I’ve visited thus far is just the beginning,” she said. “Now, with an international title, I’ve set a goal of visiting at least 10 countries in this next year in hopes of reaching a worldwide audience.”

Coolidge says that food insecurity is greater than ever as a result of the pandemic.

“So many families are feeling the results of losing jobs, the cost of gas and groceries, and struggling to pay their utility bills. The numbers I’ve seen across the country in my travels are astounding and heart breaking,” Coolidge said. “Having little ones at home myself, I cannot imagine not being able to give them the food they need. There are people visiting food banks now that have never needed to utilize their services before. People need to know that there is help out there and it's ok to get help."

She was born in Waterville, grew up in Norridgewock and went to Skowhegan Area High School. After graduation, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Law and was planning to attend law school after college but became a paralegal instead, working as an intellectual property paralegal at Preti Flaherty for seven years and then as a real estate paralegal for Dead River Company for 15 years.

This past year the Good Shepherd Food Bank created an Ambassadorship program and made Coolidge their very first Ambassador.

“I was so honored and touched that such a huge organization would recognize my efforts and hard

work,” she said. “My life for the past five years since moving to New Gloucester has been spreading the good word and mission of the Good Shepherd Food Bank. After all, we share the same goal.”

She volunteers at the Good Shepherd facility in Auburn in her spare time, and hosts annual fundraising events at her wedding venue business, the Coolidge Family Farm, on Lewiston Road in New Gloucester. She launched her own “Running of the Brides 5K for Hunger” several years ago where runners wear vintage wedding dresses. She also hosted a Quilt Auction at her venue, Coolidge Chapel, in Gray where she and her friend Abby, raised more than $3,000 to benefit Good Shepherd.

If that wasn’t enough, Coolidge co-produced her first annual “Flowers that Feed” Art & Runway show in June with her pageant sister Whitley, is now writing her first children’s book under Paw Prints Publishing called “We All Stir The Pot” (an effort to end hunger) and just collaborated with New Gloucester’s NU Brewery on their first philanthropic beer called “Feed ME” which will benefit the Good Shepherd as well.

Her latest pageant success is in addition to the time she devotes to being a wife and a mother, her business career, and her volunteering to assist the community at the food bank.

“Pageantry is such a huge part of the State of Maine that most people have no idea about,” Coolidge said. “Before my love of pageantry bloomed, I didn't think there was any pageantry in Maine, but once I started competing, I'm constantly running into people who know someone who held a title here or elsewhere but are from here. It's exciting and I have so many people following my journey and I hope to constantly inspire others.”

Follow Misty’s journey across the country, and now worldwide, on the Good Shepherd’s website by visiting gsfb.org and searching for Misty Coolidge. <