With the Mission’s Maine island Covid-19 vaccination clinics very much in the news, we wanted to also share the story of two companion vaccination clinics at our Community Center in Cherryfield. Held in partnership with the Maine Mobile Health Program (MMHP) and Mano en Mano, the first clinic was on April 12. The second clinic was May 13. All told, 112 people received their Covid-19 vaccinations at these two events.
Lisa Tapert, Maine Mobile Health Program CEO, said, “Community members in [the Downeast] area have faced challenges accessing vaccine appointments through the large vaccination sites. And there aren’t too many of those sites close to this area.”
The Mission was happy to say yes to MMHP’s request to use our Downeast Community Center as home base for the clinics. We appreciate MMHP offering health care access to our community members, and we look forward to helping reach future area health goals.
It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission love goes to the K-8 students and staff at the Peninsula School in Prospect Harbor, and to the K-8 students at the Mountain View School in Sullivan. Both groups were successful in helping our friends and neighbors who use the Mission’s Family Food Center in Cherryfield.
Peninsula School’s K-8 students and staff collected 302 boxes of cereal to donate to area food pantries. On the school’s Facebook page you can see an impressive video of the 302 cereal boxes set up like dominoes from one end of the school to the other. And 1st Grade teacher Katie Parker delivered 100 boxes to the Mission’s Food Pantry.
K-8 students at Mountain View School collected 5,792 packages of Ramen Noodles through their food drive, distributing the food to area pantries. Instructional Coach Megan Worcester delivered over 600 Ramen Noodle packages to the Mission. You can see what 5,792 packages look like on the school’s Facebook page.
Mission Food Programs Coordinator Stephanie Moores said, “We are so excited to see the enthusiasm of the staff and students helping area food pantries! We are so grateful for the generous and significant donations from both Peninsula and Mountain View. Their donations will help us feed many people.”
CHERRYFIELD, ME — The Mission Family Food Center is looking for responsible, outgoing volunteers for our Food Pantry this summer. Duties includes stocking shelves, unloading truck deliveries in a fast paced, fun environment. Learn more:
For More Information Contact: Scott K Fish, Communications & Marketing sfish@seacoastmission.org or 207-458-7185
Dakin Hewlett Joins Maine Seacoast Mission as EdGE Journey Program Manager
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Maine Seacoast Mission announces the addition of Dakin Hewlett as the Journey Program Manager. The Mission EdGE Journey Program is an Emanuel and Pauline A. Lerner Foundation Aspirations Incubator grantee, focusing on mentoring, supporting, and working alongside youth and their families; providing leadership opportunities, community involvement, and travel opportunities.
Prior to joining the Mission, Ms. Hewlett served as Delaware Nature Society’s Watershed Education Coordinator where she developed and implemented two youth programs – the Wilmington Youth Environmental Corps and Trail Ambassador programs. The programs provided mentoring, career skill development, outdoor activities, and community engagement projects to support youth aspirations.
Mission Downeast Director Melvin D. Adams III, Ed.D. said, “I’m excited to welcome Dakin to the Downeast Campus team. Her passion for engaging youth voices in the work, supporting youth, and collaborating with communities to increase youth aspirations and success is clear. She is dedicated to learn about history, culture, and place in which she works,” said Mel Adams.
Dakin Hewlett said, “I’m excited to join the dedicated team at Maine Seacoast Mission and to be a part of the organization’s commitment to serving Downeast communities. I’m thankful for the opportunity to engage students and their families through Journey, and look forward to continuing the long-term investment in building relationships, and activating voices of youth leaders in the community,” said Hewlett.
Since 1905, the Maine Seacoast Mission has supported communities in some of Maine’s most isolated villages and islands. The Mission connects people to each other, to education, to food, and to wellness.
Our Zoom Open Mic sessions end soon. For a few months now, on Wednesday’s, 6 to 8 pm, we gather online to play and listen to music. It is a Covid adaptation of the Open Mic events we held live in colder months at our Weald Bethel Community Center in Cherryfield.
Art and I and a handful of regulars join in every week to listen. Art sets his computer on his kitchen table and putters while listening. So does Alane. I find it entertaining to watch them move about, doing their thing. A few of us eat while watching. When he’s not playing guitar, Scott sometimes plays cribbage.
What started as a handful of regulars grew to 14 households joining online. Lots of smiling faces on the computer screen. Not being limited by our Downeast location was a pleasant surprise.
George, Lynne, and John each joined and played from different spots in Florida. Linda Zoomed in from Northern VA. Steve’s high school friend from Portland, OR sang last week. My nephew watched from NH. Josh set up a stage at his place with fancy blinking lights. His family participated from various ME locations. Before Josh headed to tree plant in PA, his own crowd and fan club was online for his exit performance.
My extended Family from Easthampton, MA – including Chris and Jim – have been regular audience members. Chris is my brother-in-love’s sister. I usually only see them at Thanksgiving dinners. It has been wonderful getting to know them better while singing their folk song duets and Beatles covers. My friend Art said, “I’m going to miss Chris and Jim when our Zoom Open Mics end this month.” I know exactly what he means. Maybe they will visit Cherryfield when our Open Mic is in-person again. I hope so.
To be sure, Open Mic via Zoom has its limitations on sound quality. Scott Shaw, and my partner, Steve, oversee the live Open Mic events. They have spent hours trying to figure out the sweet spots within Zoom.
Weak internet connections can make performers volumes drop out for a second. Or if their sound is too busy or full it starts clipping.
But all that matters not so much. We were glad to support each other and hear live music. We all pretty quickly accepted the reduced sound quality, because the heart in the song always comes through.
