by maineseacoast | Aug 6, 2020 | Downeast Campus, EdGE, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Uncategorized
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Thank you to EdGE Site Coordinator Don Parker for these photos of kids at this year’s EdGE Summer Art/Literacy Summer Camp. As EdGE Interim Director Isaac Marnik writes in his Summer Camp reflection:
An Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation grant provided books to all campers and students in the summer meals program. Students selected a few books to read. We bought those specific books for them.
Finally, thank you to EdGE Site Coordinator Jen Kearns for helping put this photo collage together.
by maineseacoast | Aug 6, 2020 | EdGE, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
Our August 2020 eNewsletter – Online for Reading, Downloading. Click here.
And click here to receive our monthly eNewsletters by email.
by maineseacoast | Aug 5, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, EdGE, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Uncategorized
CHERRYFIELD, ME — It was a delight to welcome campers to the Downeast Campus in July for an action-packed summer experience. The sound of laughter was abundant as EdGE staff provided the first in person programming since schools closed in March.
We offered four weeks of a modified version of summer camp that followed State of Maine guidelines and CDC recommendations. Our number one priority was keeping students, families, and staff safe. Camp activities were classic EdGE, modified for mask wearing and social distancing. Students took part in cooking, DSLR cameras photography, science experiments, engineering, trail hiking, volleyball, basketball, and many more engaging activities. One summer camp highlight was the opportunity for students to have much-needed social interaction with their peers and EdGE staff.
Through generous grants and partnerships we provided many extras to students attending camp.
Each Friday, the Mission food pantry provided a box of food to all campers and their families. Some families took part in a Good Shepherd Cooking Matters course where they were provided over the four weeks of camp with food for six dinners to cook as a family.
An Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation grant provided books to all campers and students in the summer meals program. Students selected a few books to read. We bought those specific books for them.
With a Healthy Acadia grant we provided students activity kits containing STEM, Art, and outdoor activities they could explore and enjoy in August.
by maineseacoast | Aug 5, 2020 | Downeast Maine Tiny House Project, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Thank You Thursday
It’s Thank you Thursday and today’s shout out of Mission Love goes to Downeast Community Partners (DCP).
DCP was created in 2017 with the merger of two organizations: Washington Hancock Community Agency and Child and Family Opportunities. With headquarters in Ellsworth and Machias, the new DCP was, and is, designed to improve the quality of life and reduce the impact of poverty in Downeast communities.
For years DCP and the Mission have partnered to keep families and individuals in Washington and parts of Hancock County in safe, warm homes. Each year, area residents can apply for a housing repair assist.
In brief, the Mission’s Housing Rehabilitation Program, with its talented, hardworking volunteers, puts homes into shape — trailer skirting, roofing, building decks, scraping and painting, and other repair work. DCP then completes the work with its weatherization program: insulation, thermal windows, new doors.
And Monday, August 3, DCP and the Mission were on site in Milbridge to see its latest Downeast Maine Tiny House Project — in partnership with C.F. Adams Charitable Trust and Assabet Valley Regional High School — placed on its concrete foundation.
We’re looking forward to many more years teaming up with Downeast Community Partners.
This is what community looks like.
On the web: https://www.downeastcommunitypartners.org/
by maineseacoast | Aug 5, 2020 | Uncategorized
On Tuesday, July 28th, Mission President John Zavodny and I had the pleasure of co-hosting a Spiritual Roundtable with past Mission presidents and pastors. Joining our Zoom meeting were the Reverends Gary Delong and Scott Planting — both former Mission presidents. Former Sunbeam pastors the Reverends Tony Burkart and Rob Benson, and current Mission Board chair Dan McKay joined too.
Former Sunbeam pastor Reverend Ted Hoskins, former board member Bishop Clark Grew, current board member Reverend Rex Garrett were invited but could not attend.
John and I wanted to connect (or re-connect) past and current spiritual leadership, listen to Mission stories straight from the pastors’ mouths, and better understand the guiding principles and values of the Mission’s history of spiritual work.
The meeting did not disappoint.
After introductions I led the group in prayer. Each participant then shared experiences from his time with the Mission. Stories were told of identifying community needs, and of Mission programs growing from those needs.
I was reminded of why and how Mission workers like Edith Drury once distributed packs of seeds to Mission families. Her work was similar to today when Sunbeam Steward Jillian, and Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley, bring aboard the Sunbeam seedlings from their gardens to share with islanders. Similar to staff at our Downeast Campus building and distributing “Gardens in a Box” to families in Cherryfield.
What a gift it was hearing Tony share how his ministry was led by a “quiet caring of people without a lot of feathers and dust.” Or of Gary’s leadership guided by Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Or listening to Scott share how he frequently thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s attitude of “obedience, with action” while leading the Mission and staff in the daily work of loving and serving others. Rob told the group he always looked for “hope – wherever he could find it.”
I sat listening with deep gratitude to each of my Mission colleagues share his experiences. Grateful for their legacy of good work, and for their generosity of spirit and wisdom. John and I left the meeting inspired, even as the Mission faces this unprecedented time.
My takeaway from our Spiritual Roundtable? God’s love and call to service is alive in every facet of the Mission’s work. Whether it’s a weekly Zoom church service, a ReachOut phone call made by a Mission volunteer, or staff socially distancing with kids during the EdGE summer camp. Spirituality is not a separate entity or program at Maine Seacoast Mission. It’s the driving force for everything we do.
