Maine Community Foundation county committee awards eight grants

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded more than $55,000 in grants to eight nonprofits located across the region. The 2018 grants are:

$9,000 to Elder Abuse Institute of Maine, to develop and implement a pilot train-the-trainer ambassador program with volunteers in Piscataquis County to raise awareness of the abuse, neglect and exploitation of elders;

$10,000 to the Moosehead Marine Museum in Greenville, to implement educational programming for Piscataquis County students and visitors in partnership with Appalachian Mountain Club and the Natural Resources Education Center;

$7,000 to Natural Resource Education Center at Moosehead, to construct a replica of the fire warden’s cabin on Big Moose Mountain that will also serve as a warming hut for the after-school ski program;

$5,754 to Pine Tree Hospice of Dover-Foxcroft, to solidify an end-of-life care and planning program by training volunteers to be proficient at holding poignant conversations;

$10,000 to the Piscataquis Regional Food Center in Dover-Foxcroft, to build and equip a food processing and training area to be used to deliver food-related training and education for low-income community members and farmers;

$3,000 to RSU 68/SeDoMoCha Middle School of Dover-Foxcroft, to build a metals program for students in grades 5-8 and the surrounding community through the adult education program;

$8,500 to the Thompson Free Library of Dover-Foxcroft, to bring oral history documentation to the community with the support of students and other community members recording conversations with our county’s eldest members;

$2,400 to the town of Sangerville, to assist in growing a community concert series located at the newly renovated and expanded Sangerville Veterans Memorial Park.

The Piscataquis County Fund is a permanent endowment that supports projects and nonprofits that strengthen communities in the county. Applications go through the foundation’s Community Building Grant Program and are reviewed by a committee of local leaders. The next proposal deadline is Feb. 15, 2019. The application and guidelines can be found at www.mainecf.org.

The Piscataquis County Fund is built through donations from the community. For more information about the fund, please contact Foundation Officer Laura Reed at lreed@mainecf.org or 564-3236.

Headquartered in Ellsworth, with additional personnel in Portland, Dover-Foxcroft and Mars Hill, the Maine Community Foundation works with donors and other partners to improve the quality of life for all Maine people. To learn more about the foundation, please visit www.mainecf.org.