SCARBOROUGH
Credit union donates $6,000 for meals for needy
Town & Country Federal Credit Union donated $6,000 to help seven hunger-related organizations in Cumberland and York counties during the holidays, providing close to 25,000 meals to those in need.
The funds were awarded to The Locker Project, which provides meals to children and their families in 34 schools and preschools in Greater Portland, and to the Biddeford, Saco, South Portland, Scarborough and Preble Street food pantries, and the Wayside Food Program of Portland.
To learn more, visit tcfcu.com.
WISCASSETT
Chewonki offers youth environmental scholarships
Chewonki has announced two $15,000 “Maine Youth Environmental Leaders Scholarships,” to support students from Maine who would like to attend Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki during the spring or fall of their junior year in high school.
The scholarships cover approximately half of tuition and fees. Successful applicants must be in the top 20 percent of their class, have the support of a school or community leader, have demonstrated an appreciation for the natural world, and can envision creating positive change in their home community. The application deadline is Feb. 15.
Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki is a semester-long academically rigorous residential program based in Wiscasset. Learning takes place in classrooms, in the field, on the coast, at the farm, in the forest and on extended backcountry expeditions. Students explore the concepts behind human ecology, the intersection between humans and their natural, social, and built environments.
For more on the program, go to mainecoastsemester.org/admissions/scholarship. For more details, contact Sheryl Stearns at sstearns@chewonki.org or call 882-7323.
UNITY
Farm organization awards emergency aid grants
Maine Farmland Trust and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association have awarded grants to 38 Maine farms through the Maine Farm Emergency Grants program. This is the second round of funding the two organizations have offered to farmers affected by the COVID-19 crisis and a severe drought.
The grants range from $500 to $2,000, with a total of $47,960 to be distributed. The two organizations distributed $141,000 to 79 farms this past spring.
Market disruptions continue to keep many farms’ from operating as usual. Several were in need of essentials that include livestock, feed, packaging and more.
The grants are used to help farms adapt to changes in markets, adjust to uncertainties, offer products to the community in a safe manner and to cover essential operating costs.
For more details, go to mofga.org.
STATEWIDE
Rotarians offering free masks
The Rotarian Million Mask Challenge rollout is set to begin.
Ted Rossi, a Rotarian from Connecticut, is donating one million masks to be distributed to Rotary Clubs throughout New England this month.
The first distribution, providing 100,000 masks for distribution by clubs in Maine and southern New Hampshire, took place in October. Clubs will distribute masks to first responders, health facilities, homeless shelters, schools and other community organizations.
Rotary District Governor Peggy Belanger and other Rotary leaders will meet at Portsmouth Circle to divide the masks for distribution.
Rotary District 7780 includes 43 Rotary Clubs from Portsmouth, N.H., to Rumford and northeast to Damariscotta.
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