BRUNSWICK
Five local nonprofit organizations each received $5,000 in grants from Brunswickbased Maine Women’s Giving Tree, a philanthropy founded in 2009 to serve the needs of women, children and families.
Group co-founders Judy Woodman of Cundys Harbor and Sandra Neiman of Harpswell announced the group’s second-ever round of grantmaking June 5 at a reception at Curtis Memorial Library.
Woodman said the $25,000 in grants represents an increase of $10,000 over last year “and couldn’t have happened without the financial support of our membership.”
The grant recipients and the funded projects are:
— Family Focus of Bath and Brunswick: $5,000 to cover the higher costs of a healthful-food program for children of the families it serves at early-learning centers in Bath and Brunswick.
— Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program: $5,000 to fund a “Back Pack Program” that will offer healthful weekend meals to 20 children who participate in the national school lunch program at Harpswell Community School. Good Shepherd Food Bank will provide the food for this pilot program; the Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program will distribute it.
— Tedford Housing of Brunswick: $5,000 to establish a new, flexible Housing Support Fund that will address several barriers to independence for women living in its family housing. The grant will fund the costs of short-term child care, transportation, purchase of jobappropriate clothing and other “upfront” costs to enable women, the majority of whom are their children’s sole care givers, to attend job interviews.
— Teen Center of Brunswick: $5,000 to extend the center’s drop-in program for teens, from three to four days a week. People Plus oversees the Teen Center, which offers youths a safe, supportive after-school environment.
— Women, Work and Community: $5,000 to establish a “rainy day fund” to help eligible individuals and families in the Brunswick area establish a savings account to pay for unanticipated emergency household expenses they are unable to cover as a result of job loss, reduction of work hours or short-term disability.
The grant will match funds saved by participants on a dollar-for-dollar basis to a maximum of $300. All participants will be required to complete “My Money Works,” a financial education course.
“Our grants this year focus on providing children with the healthful meals they need to grow, and on helping women and young people learn new ways to gain greater independence and self-sufficiency. Nothing could be more important to Maine’s families,” Neiman said.
For more information, visit www.mainewomensgivingtree.org
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