The Mission’s communities are vibrant and diverse and they span a nine-thousand-five-hundred square mile area that more than ninety-thousand Mainers call home spanning from southern Maine to the Canadian border. We are sharing the stories of these people and their communities, in their own words. Cody Leighton, from Milbridge, was in EdGE as a younger student and is currently in his final year of the Journey program. He was selected as a Davis Maine Scholar this summer, and will begin college in the fall of 2025.
How long have you been living Downeast?
I have lived in Milbridge for 17 years.
What’s special to you about Milbridge?
The community is very tight knit and it’s a really beautiful place to be.
Your gift to the Maine Seacoast Mission makes you part of all we do.
What’s challenging?
Because it’s such a small town, we don’t have many resources available. We don’t have many outreach programs and there are not many opportunities for students to explore their passions and reach their full potential.
What do you like to do here? Work, play, or otherwise?
I like to take photos of nature and capture the natural beauty that we have within our community. It’s just really remarkable. I work at Wreaths Across America in their finance department and work on the lobster boat with my dad. I also attend school at Jonesport-Beals High School.
Are you currently working on any special projects?
It’s a personal project in a way to help shine more of a light on the Downeast community and bring more awareness to what resources our students need. It’s really hard for us to get the support that we need or the exploration that we want. I am on the Maine Department of Education Student Cabinet, and I have been talking a lot more about our area. I speak with my peers, the staff at my school, and anybody in the community, about what educational opportunities they would like to see within our area’s.
What would people be surprised to learn about living Downeast?
Probably one thing that people would be surprised to learn about living Downeast is the connection that we have with each other in the community. We get to know everybody. There’s not really a person that we don’t know whether it’s a family member that is a very distant relative or it’s somebody that just moved here. We like to actually get to know everybody on a personal level.
What do you wish for your town?
My wish for my town is to see the life brought back to the community. When my parents were younger the whole community showed up at all events to support each other, no matter what time of the year it was. All the kids that lived on the street would come together to pick up a game of baseball and the ones who didn’t play cheered for those who did. Everybody was there to support one another. Today, we still do have some of that, but most of these things have become just another part of history that our little town has lost.
Is it important for the Mission work Downeast?
The Mission has brought a lot of us together through their outreach programs and it has provided so many opportunities to us, whether it’s community members or students within school. They have supported us no matter what and has been a tremendous resource for Downeast Maine and its community members.