by maineseacoast | Jul 17, 2020 | Downeast Campus, EdGE, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
CHERRYFIELD, ME — A literacy grant from the Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation enables the Maine Seacoast Mission to provide children’s books through the Mission’s EdGE Summer Camp 2020 reading/writing program.
Don Parker, EdGE Site Coordinator at Milbridge Elementary School, works with elementary students through Summer Camp, as well as during EdGE’s regular after-school programs. Of the Summer Camp reading/writing program Don says, “Obviously, a big piece of that is books. We’re really proud of being able to provide every camper a book for every four weeks of camp.” The books are fiction, non-fiction, “involved mostly around the State of Maine. Maine authors. Maine stories,” explains Parker.
Mission President John Zavodny said, “At camp we provide children with free weekly books, reading and writing activities, and daily meals. The camp helps these children develop reading proficiency by the end of third grade, a pivotal time in their development. Students who can’t read proficiently by third grade fall behind academically. They often never catch up and are more likely to drop out of school before earning their high school diploma, limiting their career options, earning power, and quality of life,” President Zavodny explained.
“In addition to the summer camp reading/writing activities, the grant gives us the ability to deliver free books to student homes, and encourage the children to read and participate in online activities. This summer, as a result of the coronavirus situation which reduced summer food options in the community, we are delivering weekly meals to the homes of would-be campers and other EdGE students,” Zavodny said. These deliveries will include books, providing nourishment for the mind as well as food.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for local kids,” added Don Parker. “It teaches kids the importance of books and how fun and enriching books can be. It can be really rewarding for a teacher, an adult, a camp counselor, to sit at the heart of a circle and have those children listen to you read this story, this adventure. We want the book to be more than words on a page. We want it to be an experience. This reading/writing program helps us have that experience together. It’s important. I’m honored to be part of it,” said Parker.
Thanks to the Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation, a tradition of summer reading continues.
Learn more about EdGE Summer Camp.
by maineseacoast | Jul 16, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Downeast Campus, Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Thank You Thursday
It’s Thank you Thursday and today’s shout out of Mission Love goes to Healthy Acadia.
Search the Mission’s blog for Healthy Acadia mentions. You will see quickly how Maine Seacoast Mission’s many partnerships with HA touch our services and programs on land and sea in Washington and Hancock Counties, from help distributing food to local pantries, to hosting island telehealth smoking cessation programs.
Based in both Ellsworth and Machias, HA’s mission is to help build healthy communities through empowering people and organizations Downeast. In the broad sense of the term, Healthy Acadia’s helps people lead healthy lives.
We remember last summer, long before Covid-19, the delicious Downeast Table of Plenty spaghetti supper with salads and vegetable stir fried dishes prepared and served by teens and staff from HA’s Teen Ag Summer Program. Teen Ag is a wonderful program that introduces healthy foods to teens, and shows them how to grow healthy foods and prepare them for healthy eating.
HA is also a valued participant among 20 or so health care providers at the Mission hosted Health Fairs, where islanders are offered free hearing tests by an audiologist, blood sugar checks, information on breast self exam, hospice, domestic violence and home health care.
As the Mission looks forward to continuing our healthy partnerships with Healthy Acadia, we invite you to visit HA on their website or on Facebook.
This is what community looks like.
On the web: https://healthyacadia.org/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthyAcadia/
by maineseacoast | Jul 14, 2020 | COVID-19 Updates, Downeast Campus, EdGE, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Maine Seacoast Mission’s modified EdGE Summer Camp is well underway in Cherryfield. Our number one priority is keeping the children, families, and staff healthy and safe. At the same time, our camp goers are learning or polishing skills, such as how to visualize and capture great digital photographs.
Learn more about EdGE Summer Camp 2020.
by maineseacoast | Jul 9, 2020 | Downeast Campus, Downeast Maine Tiny House Project, Housing Rehabilitation, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Thank You Thursday, Weald Bethel Community Center
CHERRYFIELD, ME — “Lee Watrous is our all star volunteer/contractor from Gales Ferry CT,” said Housing Rehabilitation Program Manager Scott Shaw in an email about the Downeast Maine Tiny House Project. “Lee has agreed to help us out with the project,” said Scott. Lee is now working on the tiny house at Assabet Valley Regional High School, finishing and preparing the house for transporting to Milbridge, ME. “Lee also offered to work on the home in Milbridge,” said Scott.
Mission fans may remember Lee Watrous and his volunteer work crew in 2018 when they finished the Final Phase of expanding and modernizing the Weald Bethel Community Center. The finished building included a commercial-grade community kitchen, additional dormitory space for Housing Rehabilitation Program volunteers, new EdGE classroom space, and space for weekly community functions.
And for Lee’s work on making Housing Rehab Program area homes safe and warm, one homeowner said, “Absolutely nothing will stop the progress of a job site when Lee Watrous and crew are volunteering with the Mission’s Housing Rehab Program.”
Downeast Campus Director of Service Programs Wendy Harrington called Lee Watrous, “Super Volunteer.”
This is what community looks like.
by maineseacoast | Jul 8, 2020 | Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News
‘Whatever Floats Your Boat’ – The Island Reader 2020 is a beautiful anthology reflection of Maine island life and culture.
Read it online or own a copy. Click here.
