BANGOR –– Bangor Savings Bank’s Foundation started the year with its fifth annual charitable giving campaign, Community Matters More. With nearly 90,000 people casting votes for their favorite organizations, 68 nonprofits have been selected for this year’s effort and will be granted a total of $100,000.
Eight non-profits which received the most community votes will each receive a $5,000 grant. The eight winners span the entire state and include: Emmaus Homeless Shelter; Kennebec Valley Humane Society; Preble Street; Aid for Kids (Degenhardt Foundation); Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League; Seniors Plus “Meals on Wheels”; Open Hands Open Hearts (Saco Food Pantry); and Bangor Humane Society.
An additional 60 non-profit organizations which also received community members’ votes will receive grants of $1000 each. This year’s program reached its goal of the highest voter turn-out to date. The final tally, The Foundation reports, was nearly 90,000 votes cast for over 3,000 different community-based, Maine nonprofit organizations.
“Each year The Foundation considers how it can best support Maine’s Communities,” said Jim Conlon, Bangor Savings Bank’s CEO and president. “Since 2007, we have focused on giving back to community services, educational organizations, and a very wide group of charitable organizations who serve the people of our state. Early on, we determined that community members should help us determine which nonprofit organizations they hoped would get the support. And while it is extremely gratifying to be able to give $100,000 in grants, it is equally important that so many Maine people are motivated by this program and understand the significance of charitable giving.”
The statewide Community Matters More program was a partnership of the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation, WLBZ-TV 2, WCSH-TV 6, WGAN 560 Newsradio, and Blueberry Broadcasting. In addition to the grant money, 48 nonprofits that were nominated before the voting began and were listed on the ballot received substantial exposure about their missions.
The 60 $1,000 grant winners are made up of the 40 non-profit organizations listed on the ballot, and 20 organizations which earned the most write-in votes in each of the eight regions of the state, where the public participated.
The nonprofits listed on the ballot receiving $1,000 grants are: Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center; Families United; Greenland Point Center, Inc.; Sunrise County Economic Council; Yesterday’s Children, Inc.; Dexter Public Health; Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area; Kennebec Behavioral Health Services; Maine Development Disabilities Council; Pittsfield Historical Depot; Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine; Coastal Studies for Girls; Family Ice Center; LearningWorks; Northeast Hearing & Speech; Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society; Greenville Housing Corporation; House in the Woods, Inc. – Military & Family Retreat; Katahdin Area Support Group; P.E.T.S. – Prevent Euthanasia Through Sterilization;
Broadreach Family & Community Services; Carver Memorial Library; Five Town Communities That Care; Georges River Land Trust; Waldo Community Action Partners – The Cinderella Project; Greater Franklin County Homeless Coalition; Lake George Regional Park; River Valley Animal Advocates; Rumford Group Homes – Homeless Shelters; Somerset Humane Society; Caring Unlimited; Day One; Harvest Hills Animal Shelter; Ice Fishing 4A Cause; North Atlantic Arts Alliance (Ossipee Valley Music Festival); Amicus; Community Care; Eastern Area on Aging; Good Samaritan Agency; Maine Discovery Museum.
The 20 write-in winners are: Women’s Health Resource Library, Milbridge; Jacob Brewer Home, Ellsworth; National Exchange Club of Waterville, Waterville; Newport Cultural Center, Newport; The Public Theatre, Lewiston; Maine State Music Theatre, Brunswick; Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, South Windham; Charlotte White Center, Dover-Foxcroft; Piscataquis Regional YMCA, Dover-Foxcroft; Improved Order of Redmen of Maine 13 Tarratine Tribe, Belfast; Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay; Franklin County Animal Shelter, Farmington; Chisholm Ski Club, Rumford; Maine Handicapped Skiing, Newry; York County Shelter Programs, Alfred; In-A-Pinch Non Food Pantry, Biddeford; Hampden VFW Auxiliary 4633, Hampden; Neighbors Supporting Neighbors Food Pantry, Hermon; Heart of Maine Chorus of Sweet Adelines, Bangor; and Forgotten Felines, Stockton Springs.
“Everyone at Bangor Savings Bank knows the importance of our Community Matters More program,” Conlon said. “It is something we all value, especially during such challenging economic times. On behalf of the nearly 700 Bangor Savings Bank employees, we want to thank our fellow Maine citizens who participated in this year’s program, and to say how honored we are to be able to assist these deserving organizations.”
Community Matters More is part of Bangor Savings Bank and the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation’s total commitment of more than a million dollars per year to the community in the form of nonprofit sponsorships, grants and partnership initiatives.
