MaineCF’s Cumberland County Committee awards $113,000 in grants

The Cumberland County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded $113,174 in grants to 16 nonprofits through the Community Building Grant Program.  
Grant recipients include:

• Creative Portland Corporation, to expand an arts-based community campaign to help combat COVID-19 with artistic messaging and CDC-compliant safety recommendations
• Mercy Hospital, Portland, to purchase laptops for families to allow access to substance recovery sessions, pursue undergraduate degrees remotely and assist their children in remote learning
• Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, Brunswick, to operate a satellite food pantry for food insecure seniors.

MaineCF donors made an additional 13 grants totaling $84,690 from their donor-advised funds.

The Cumberland County Fund is a permanent endowment that supports projects and nonprofit organizations that strengthen communities in the county. Proposals are submitted through MaineCF’s Community Building Grant Program and are reviewed by a committee of local leaders. The next proposal deadline is February 15, 2022. Application, guidelines and a complete list of grants can be found at www.mainecf.org.

The Cumberland County Fund is built through donations from the community. If you would like more information about the fund, please contact MaineCF Program Officer John Ochira at 1-877-700-6800 or jochira@mainecf.org.

2021 Grants from the Cumberland County Committee:

• Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, to support access to affordable veterinary care: $4,000
• Casco Library Association, to build and put in place kinesthetic literacy projects called StoryWalks to provide safe, socially distant family activities in public park spaces in Casco: $2,300
• Creative Portland Corporation, to expand an arts-based community campaign to help combat COVID-19 with artistic messaging and CDC-compliant safety recommendations: $8,662
• Cultivating Community, Portland, to pay stipends to youth who are caring for a free u-pick garden and delivering vegetables to low-income seniors: $5,000
• Friends of Casco Bay, Portland, to grow its Water Reporter Program in pandemic-safe ways in order to continue to protect the health of coastal waters: $5,500
• Furniture Friends, Westbrook, to continue to provide essential household furniture to low-income individuals and families throughout Southern Maine: $8,000
• Gateway Community Services Maine, Portland, to expand its tutoring program with online and hybrid learning to serve more students, especially those from the immigrant/refugee community who are non-native English speakers: $6,000
• Hope Acts, Portland, to grow its ability to train and support volunteers who work with asylum seekers in finding and maintaining safe and affordable housing: $5,000
• Intercultural Community Center, Westbrook, to bolster and expand an existing hybrid learning support program to help at-risk immigrant youth in grades 3-8 gain confidence and succeed: $10,000
• Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, Portland, to purchase 65,000 diapers to be distributed to families experiencing diaper need throughout Southern Maine: $10,000
• Lakes Environmental Association, Bridgton, to repair and improve trail systems to allow for greater use by the general public: $8,112
• Mercy Hospital, Portland, to purchase laptops for families to allow access to substance recovery sessions, pursue undergraduate degrees remotely, and assist their children in remote learning: $8,000
• Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, Brunswick, to operate a satellite food pantry for food insecure seniors: $10,000
• Portland Parks Conservancy, to hire a volunteer coordinator to engage the community in helping care for public parks, under-maintained since COVID-19 caused significant reductions in city staffing: $7,600
• Presente Maine, Portland, to create COVID-19-safe space for community and recreation to foster relationship with mother earth and their bodies and to experience connection, beauty and joy: $5,000
• Southern Maine Workers’ Center, Portland, to create an online training program for essential workers that will build skills for advocating for safe, healthy workplaces: $10,000

2021 Grants from Donor-Advised Funds:

• Amistad, Inc., Portland, to help implement a major, new residential program for women that will create 38 apartments for previously homeless or incarcerated women: $10,000
• Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, to support access to affordable veterinary care: $6,000
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, Portland, to re-engage members not served by in-person programming during the pandemic and to expand wellness programming for them: $10,000
• The Center for Grieving Children, Portland, to provide virtual peer support groups for grieving children, including children impacted by COVID-19, to promote resiliency and lessen the likelihood of negative outcomes: $3,065
• Cultivating Community, Portland, to pay stipends to youth who are caring for a free u- pick garden and delivering vegetables to low income seniors: $5,000
• Friends of Casco Bay, Portland, to grow its Water Reporter Program in pandemic-safe ways in order to continue to protect the health of our coastal waters: $2,500
• Gateway Community Services Maine, Portland, to expand its tutoring program with online and hybrid learning to serve more students, especially those from the immigrant/refugee community who are non-native English speakers: $4,000
• Greater Portland Family Promise, to provide essential homelessness prevention and shelter diversion to help families maintain or secure permanent housing: $10,000
• Little Sebago Lake Association, Gray, to expand safety and water quality programs to account for increased lake usage by day-trippers seeking a respite for COVID-19 stressors: $7,000
• Milestone Recovery, Portland, to bring critical health care, transportation, and de-escalation services to Mainers experiencing homelessness during the pandemic: $10,000
• Preble Street, Portland, to help meet skyrocketing food needs caused by COVID-19 by producing and distributing nutritious, culturally appropriate meals three times a day, 365 days a year: $10,000
• Wayside Food Programs, Portland, to purchase 1,500 pounds of seafood from a locally owned business to supplement donations to share through our mobile food pantries: $7,125