MaineCF’s Penobscot County Committee awards more than $146,000 in grants

The Penobscot County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded $146,868 in grants to 17 nonprofit organizations through the Community Building Grant Program.

Grant recipients include:

• Lincoln Pony Pals, for a summer equestrian program for youth struggling with stress, depression, weight gain, and emotional, social, and physical challenges associated with COVID-19
• Literacy Volunteers of Bangor, to develop and operationalize mobile learning initiatives for adult students and formalize remote training opportunities for tutors during COVID-19
• Welcoming Immigrant Neighbors, for a part-time staff person who will help to maintain and expand integrative services.

MaineCF donors also made three additional grants totaling $13,299 from donor-advised funds.

The Penobscot County Fund is a permanent endowment supporting projects and nonprofits 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. The application, guidelines, and a complete list of 2021 grants can be found at www.mainecf.org and below.

The Penobscot County Fund is built through donations from the community. If you would like more information about the fund, please contact Senior Foundation Officer Laura Reed at (207) 564-3236 or by email at lreed@mainecf.org.

2021 Grants from the Penobscot County Committee:

• Bangor Public Library Trustees, to analyze and optimize indoor air quality to safely re-open and hold in-person programming: $10,000
• Best Buddies International, to create a Citizens Friendship Program to match adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities with typical peers in a mutually beneficial relationship: $9,000
• Community Health Leadership Board, to extend the mask drive outreach, education, and campaign to VaxUpForME to encourage and help distribute COVID-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable residents: $10,000
• Food AND Medicine Jobs with Justice Education Fund, to organize the purchase of food from local restaurants to distribute to low-income people in ways that foster dignity, leadership development, and community resilience: $10,000
• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor, to support the Critical Repair program to keep Mainers in their homes and invest in maintaining neighborhoods: $10,000
• Helen S. Dunn School, to expand the middle school Outdoor Adventure Program focused on Maine's forests and waterways: $10,000
• Lincoln Pony Pals, for a summer equestrian program for youth struggling with stress, depression, weight gain, and emotional, social, and physical challenges associated with COVID-19: $2,500
• Literacy Volunteers of Bangor, to develop and operationalize mobile learning initiatives for adult students and formalize remote training opportunities for tutors during COVID-19: $10,000
• Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center, to provide comprehensive healthcare to vulnerable community members: $5,000
• Needlepoint Sanctuary, to create a program that distributes life-saving harm reduction materials to unhoused and BIPOC community members in Greater Bangor: $7,000
• Opportunity Housing Inc., to eliminate isolation and improve physical and mental health among people supported in residential services through the use of technology: $9,501
• Our Katahdin, for organizational learning to engage with Wabanaki-led organizations around workforce and economic development, and technical expertise to review fiber network construction bids: $10,000
• Racial Equity and Justice, to support the African/Indigenous Apothecary & Herbal Holistic Medicine project to deliver preventative alternative medicinal healing to BIPOC communities, marginalized people, and those at risk: $9,000
• St. Andre Home, Inc., for "CourageLIVES" to address the amplified needs of survivors due to COVID-19 through an “empowerment” pantry project: $10,000
• Town of Dexter, to support an AmeriCorps volunteer to assist with creating transportation, technology, and social programs: $5,000
• United Way of Eastern Maine, to build and enhance UWEM's Community Engagement Initiative, connecting individuals and groups to support the nonprofit community: $10,000
• Welcoming Immigrant Neighbors, for a part-time staff person who will help to maintain and expand integrative services: $9,867

2021 Grants from Donor-Advised Funds:

• Best Buddies International, to create a Citizens Friendship Program which will match adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities with typical peers in a mutually beneficial relationship: $1,000
• Lincoln Pony Pals, for a summer equestrian program for youth struggling with mental stress, depression, weight gain and emotional, social and physical challenges with COVID-19 pandemic: $2,500
• Maine Mental Health Connections, to empower people in recovery to help revitalize a high overdose neighborhood utilizing the arts: $9,799