SANFORD

Partners Bank will distribute $22,000 in scholarships to 20 graduating seniors from the Class of 2020, who plan to pursue a post-secondary education this fall.

The recipients were chosen by their school’s respective administrators based on academic performance as well as financial need. They represent high schools including from Sanford, Sanford Regional Technical Center, Bonny Eagle, Massabesic, Wells, Noble, York and Portsmouth.

Partners Bank applauds the hard work and commitment put forth by all high school seniors, especially with the unprecedented course education was forced to take during the COVID-19 impact.

TOPSHAM/BRUNSWICK

The Topsham-Brunswick Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution announced that senior students Emily Corson of Yarmouth High School and Emma Roth-Wells of Morse High School were named its 2020 DAR Good Citizens.

Roth-Wells also is the Topsham-Brunswick Chapter’s selected winner of the DAR Good Citizens Essay Contest for her patriotic essay emphasizing the responsibility of her generation to be engaged and effective citizens in order to preserve our American heritage.

Both students were recommended for the recognition by their high school for demonstrating the four qualities of a DAR Good Citizen: dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.

Corson has an outstanding academic record. She has been successful in various leadership roles including Student Senate, music program, Thespian Society and President of the Interact club, where she earned the Rotary Youth Leadership Award.

Corson coordinated and participated in many service oriented projects for the community such as the Yarmouth March for the Ocean, for the school with a three-day voter preregistration event, and globally with a trip to Guatemala to provide much-needed assistance for their community’s survival. Her teachers characterize her as authentic, goal-oriented, exceptionally perceptive, selfless and a leader in the classroom.

Roth-Wells is a member of the National Honor Society. She has been involved in various leadership roles within the community, including as President of the Morse Green club and Interact club, served on the Student Community Liaison Council and four years on the Patten Free Library Teen Council.

Roth-Wells coordinated and worked with many community projects, including the Theater Project Community Theater in Brunswick, helped raised enough money to build bio-sand water filters for three villages in Cambodia, and produced a documentary highlighting eco-friendly efforts throughout the local community. Her teachers and local leaders describe her as having confidence and integrity in her pursuits, dedication and commitment to follow-through, and as being a compassionate and generous group member.

For more details, visit www.dar.org.

TOPSHAM

The Topsham ReStore is open for shoppers and donors 126 Main St.

Store hours are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with special hours of 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday through Friday for high risk customers.

Habitat’s ReStore provides an essential service for the mid-coast community.

For more details, call 504-9340.

PORTLAND

Junior Achievement of Maine is kicking off its first virtual fitness race, JAmovesME! A fun way to get moving while supporting the important programs JA offers Maine students.

Follow along with other registrants, fundraise and enjoy the virtual scenery in one of Maine’s most beautiful areas to visit. The 26.2-mile virtual route runs through Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park and Southwest Harbor offering racers the ability to see the area through satellite imagery as they progress along the route.

Do you run, walk, bike, or do yoga? These activities and many more will count toward your race goals. The JAmovesME! website converts any type of exercise completed within June 15-30 into miles.

Sign up before June 15 to compete for prizes as you exercise your way to the virtual finish line! Each registration will help fund a student to go through Junior Achievement programming next school year.

Volunteers, students, parents, teachers, and anyone interested in participating can learn more by visiting the event website and by registering at jaofmaine.racery.com/r/jamovesme.

• Job Corps is now enrolling young adults, ages 16 to 24, who are interested in learning career training in areas such as automotive, welding, healthcare, electrical, culinary Arts, among others, through free training.

Virtual and online learning options available. Earn HSD/HSE and driver’s license at the same time. Housing and meals included at no additional cost. Job placement once program is complete.

For more details, call Sarah MacAlister at the Portland Job Corps Office at 631-1453 or email at MacAlister.Sarah@jobcorps.org.

• The John T. Gorman Foundation has awarded $700,000 to 43 nonprofits throughout Maine that are working to support vulnerable Mainers. Awarded through the Foundation’s annual Direct Services Grant Program, the grants will help address basic needs, such as food security, housing and access to health care.

In addition to this Direct Service Grant round, that primarily focuses on the needs of children, youth and families, the Foundation awarded $400,000 in grants earlier this year targeted specifically toward meeting the direct service needs of seniors. Funding is being used by 17 organizations across the state to provide seniors with food assistance, transportation, home repair and companionship.

Food insecurity impacts as much as 14 percent of Maine’s senior population. Grants to the state’s five Areas on Aging – each for $20,000 – support nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels that offer seniors food and companionship.

Without transportation options, especially in rural areas of Maine, seniors can suffer from isolation and lack of access to essentials. Seven organizations each received $20,000 to support transportation services that help seniors access essential items and community services.

Recipients include Community Concepts, Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, Mobilize Katahdin, Penquis, Waldo Community Action Partners, Downeast Community Partners and York County Community Action.

To age in place safely, Maine seniors need homes that are warm, accommodating to their needs, and in good repair, a challenge for Maine’s old housing stock. Four grants have been awarded to programs providing home repairs, weatherization services, and mobility modifications for seniors. They include Downeast Community Partners, $30,000; Bath Housing, $20,000; York County Community Action, $40,000; and Western Maine Community Action, $40,000.

Operating in 14 Maine counties, the University of Maine’s Center on Aging Senior Companion Program received a grant of $30,000 to provide homebound seniors with volunteer companions. The 15 hours of companionship seniors get each week are critical to reducing their isolation and retaining their ability to live independently.

AUGUSTA

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced it has launched a new statewide campaign to emphasize the continued importance of public health measures that limit the spread of COVID-19, including physical distancing, wearing of cloth face coverings and hand hygiene.

The “Keep It Maine” campaign encourages Maine people to continue taking actions that have helped to keep the state’s COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates low compared to other states. Adjusted for population size, Maine ranked 42nd highest in the nation in terms of positive cases; 40th in the nation in terms of deaths; 30th in terms of patients ever-hospitalized out of the 35 states reporting; and 15th in the percentage of people who have recovered of the 41 states reporting.

The campaign includes social media and digital ads, followed in mid-June by television ads and a new website with shareable and printable educational materials for Maine people and businesses. DHHS also plans to provide translated campaign materials to ensure its message reaches as broad an audience as possible.

Maine DHHS will work with partners in the health care business and other communities to amplify the campaign’s messages.

Maine people can protect their health and prevent the spread of COVID-19 by staying home whenever possible, practicing physical distancing and wearing a face covering when not at home, practicing hand hygiene and speaking with their health care provider if they experience symptoms consistent with COVID-19, such as shortness of breath, fever and cough.

• GrowSmart Maine is seeking nominations for its third annual Maine Smart Growth Award competition.

Past years awards recognized a mixed-use infill project in Portland’s Deering Center, a community forest project that preserved nearly 1,000 acres of land for conservation, recreation and wildlife, and an individual achievement award for an influential Main Street organizer and champion of downtown revitalization.

The 2020 Maine Smart Growth Award recipients will be announced at the 2020 GrowSmart Maine Summit on Oct. 22. The Summit will be based with limited in-person attendance at the Pepperell Mill in Biddeford, with external attendance via teleconference.

Smart growth helps communities welcome and manage growth while maintaining their historic feel and natural beauty.

The awards showcase the kind of projects, plans and policies that support smart growth in all its diversity, whether it’s a plan for a walkable and inclusive village center, a development that is affordable and sustainably built, a successful new transit endeavor or a community-supported adaptation to climate change that safeguards the built or natural environment.

The nomination process has been designed to be simple and low barrier. The deadline to submit nominations is June 30.
For more information of award criteria or access to the nomination application, go to bit.ly/MESmartGrowthAwards.

• The Maine Bureau of Veterans’ Services (MBVS) has announced the winners of the 2020 Disabled Veterans Controlled Moose Hunt lottery.

Five Mainers were selected for the opportunity to participate in the hunt, they include Randall Grady of Jefferson, Mark Darrigo of Hermon, Steven Mullett of Winthrop, Ryan Pote of Old Orchard Beach and Bernice Bartlett DeBlois of Brooklin.

Five alternates also were selected in the event a primary hunter cannot attend. Their names can be found online at maine.gov/veterans.

Since the program’s inception in 2010, MBVS has partnered with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (IF&W) and Smoldering Lake Outfitters to issue hunting permits and essential equipment to participating veterans. The hunt is entirely free for selected veterans and includes guiding services, essential adaptive equipment, meat processing, travel and lodging.

Unlike the regular IF&W moose lottery, the Disabled Veterans Controlled Moose Lottery is limited to only those veterans with a disability rating of at least 50 percent. Each hunter is required to team up with a registered Maine Guide who has specific training for the hunt, and if a veteran has ever tagged a moose through the program, that veteran is ineligible to hunt again.

For more details, call 207-430-6035.

SOUTH PORTLAND

After nearly three months of distance learning, Holy Cross School celebrated its eighth-grade class in person with a graduation ceremony at Holy Cross Church.

Social distancing protocols were followed throughout the ceremony, that included the presentation of achievement awards.

CUMBERLAND

In Response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Farm to Table Kids has canceled camperships for the month of June with hopes of opening July 6.

All registrations for June will be refunded (less a $10 processing fee), with enrolled campers receiving an email detailing the refund.

The 2020 Summer Farm Camp for the remainder of the season is open to Maine residents.

All Campers must complete a prescreen health questionnaire and will agree to allow FTTK staff to screen campers (via forehead temperature check) upon entry or when symptoms arise.

A complete Parent’s Guide to FTTK Protocols is in process and will be distributed.

June enrollees my reregister for a spot or roll it over for Summer Camp 2021. Reserving spots now would also help the camp’s bottom line in the days to come, and give campers date priority in 2021.

Parents also are asked to consider donating their registration fees to help the camp navigate these challenging times. They have up to 10 days prior to your scheduled camp start date to cancel for a full refund less a $10 transaction fee.

Please email farmtotablekids@gmail.com with subject: REFUND.

Updates will be available on Facebook and Instagram.

ORONO

University of Maine System is offering existing and incoming students a chance to improve their resiliency skills and earn an industry-recognized digital badge of proficiency that employers use to assess candidate skill sets. Initiated by the Career Services offices at Maine’s public universities, the free offer to earn a 21st century skill Resilience Badge comes in response to lost student employment and internship opportunities resulting from COVID-19.

Participating students will have an opportunity to learn and practice a 21st century skill valued by employers, demonstrate proficiency through a workplace challenge and claim and share their badge on resumes and Linkedin profiles. The University of Maine System was selected to participate in the Education Design Lab’s BadgedToHire campaign, funded by the Lumina Foundation. Employer partners include Bangor Saving Bank, Northern Light Health, and Bath Iron Works.

Registration for the free, online course has begun for any learner with a university email address. The self-paced course on resiliency takes about 15 hours to complete and will be available throughout the summer.

For more details, go to www.maine.edu/students/student-affairs/21st-century-skill-badges/.

STATEWIDE

The Board of Directors of the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C. , Foundation has selected eight high achieving Maine students, attending four-year colleges and universities in Maine, for merit-based scholarships totaling $10,000.

The Foundation received applications from students attending five schools across the state, including Husson University, University of Southern Maine, University of New England, University of Maine-Farmington and Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. All students have a GPA exceeding 3.2 and had completed at least one full year of study at the time of their application. The scholarship committee considered a variety of factors, including course load, academic excellence and other scholarship focus, work ethic, essay and philanthropy when making its recommendation to the rest of the Board.

The 2020 winners, with details on where they are from, attend school and their field of study include:

Marge Pearson award of $2,500 to Erin Aucoin of Brewer, Husson University, Health Science and Pharmacy

Top academic award of $1,500 to Sigrid Sibley of Poland, University of Southern Maine, Music Education

Morgan Eliasen ($1,000):, Lewiston, University of Southern Maine, Nursing

Hope Saucier ($1,000): Waterboro, University of New England, Nursing

Emma Wallace ($1,000): Phippsburg, Husson University, Criminal Justice

Sadie Thomas ($1,000): Bangor, University of Southern Maine, Music Education

Niko Naranja ($1,000),: Ft. Kent, Husson University, Audio Engineering

Katey Caron ($1000): Waterville, University of Southern Maine, Elementary Education

Erin Aucoin is the recipient of the eighth Marjorie Pearson scholarship award, bestowed annually upon an outstanding female applicant with a strong academic record who also demonstrates superior volunteer leadership, as well as a passion for Maine.

Pearson, from Millinocket, was one of the founding members of the Foundation. For 20 years, her vision, along with those of her Maine State Society colleagues, helped support the future of young Mainers attending college in the state. Pearson died in November 2011.

Aucoin, a Brewer native and Health Science and Pharmacy student, has been volunteering with the Bangor Humane Society for seven years. She has provided foster care for hundreds of cats and dogs, including ones who are in need of special medical care

She is a two sport athlete at Husson – swimming and cross country – works as a lifeguard on campus and serves on the school’s Pre-Pharmacy Club’s executive board. She also volunteers with the Bangor Area Bark for Life, a charity event affiliated with the American Cancer Society.

“By staying in the state, I hope to work towards improving the quality of care here in Maine. My hope is that this would create an environment that encourages other young minds to stay and build up the reputation of clinics right here at home. This will lead to the option of great medical care for people in Maine without the need to travel,” Aucoin wrote in her scholarship essay about how she plans to give back to Maine after graduation by remaining in the state and working as a pharmaceutical oncologist at one of Maine’s cancer centers.

The Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, has been raising funds for its annual scholarship program since 1991, via Maine State Society events across the Washington, D.C., region, and outreach campaigns. The Foundation has awarded more than $242,000 in funds since the scholar program began. Scholarship application guidelines and a list of past winners can be found at http://mainestatesociety.org/foundation.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For headshots, bios and additional information about our award winners and the Foundation, please contact the Foundation at mssfscholarship@gmail.com.

Contact:
Jessica Strelitz Stewart
Scholarship Chair, Maine State Society Foundation of Washington, DC
mssfscholarship@gmail.com

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