The Mission has opened registration for our EdGE afterschool programs for the 2024-2025 school year. EdGE offers afterschool programs for students at seven schools in Washington County: Beals Elementary, Cherryfield Elementary, D.W. Merritt Elementary in Addison, Harrington Elementary, Jonesport Elementary, Milbridge Elementary, and Rose M. Gaffney Elementary in Machias. Homeschoolers in these school districts are also welcome to attend. Afterschool programming begins in October and operates throughout the school year.  

The Mission’s EdGE Youth Development Coordinators oversee afterschool programs also staffed by school district teachers, outdoor coordinators, artists, college, and high school students. EdGE Primary Program Director Isaac Marnik says, “Staff are currently preparing for afterschool programming and are excited to start working with students at each of the schools. We look forward to offering a variety of activities and opportunities for students to enjoy.” 

Parents or guardians at these seven schools can register on the Mission’s website. For help with registration, please call (207) 546-4466. Registration is open throughout the school year. 

The Mission is also currently hiring for its afterschool programs, especially at the Harrington and Machias locations. Positions are for four to eight hours a week and pay anywhere from $14.15 to $22 an hour. Learn more and apply at https://seacoastmission.org/employment/.  

On a beautiful, summer night in Bar Harbor, the Mission honored two of its partners for their continued support of the Downeast and island communities at the 2024 Sunbeam Award Gala. The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation was honored for their committed philanthropic partnership with the Mission and Island Institute was recognized for their enduring role as a community partner.  

In his opening remarks, Mission President John Zavodny said, “Maine Seacoast Mission is grateful for the support that the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, Diana [Davis Spencer] and Abby [Moffat], have shown over the years for children, families, older adults, and communities. We are grateful to the Island Institute for their creative commitment to partnership past and partnership to come in service to island and coastal communities in Maine.”  

The Mission also honored Island Institute, with Institute President Kim Hamiliton accepting the award on behalf of the organization. Ann and David Ingram introduced Ms. Hamiliton saying, “Both [Maine Seacoast Mission and Island Institute] understand the unique challenges facing Maine’s island communities and work to share hands-on, real-time solutions.” In her speech, Hamiliton highlighted some of the organizations’ shared work with special emphasis on the Outer Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative (TLC) and the current work of Island Institute Fellow Morgan Karns. She remarked, “Our organizations are intertwined in so many wonderful ways because of a shared vision for Maine’s islands—one that is shaped by community, inclusion, listening, and importantly trust.”  

The Mission thanks everyone who made the evening a success, including the Gala’s sponsors for their generous support. This year’s Platinum Sponsors were Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and Wyman’s of Maine; Bronze Sponsors included Billings Diesel & Marine, First National Bank, Maggie Keohan, Goldman Sachs, and The Snowman Group; Copper Sponsors were Acadia Bike & Coastal Kayaking Tours, Eaton Peabody, and Machias Savings Bank; and Corporate Donor Front Street Shipyard.  

Watch a video of this year’s event on the Mission’s YouTube page. Next year’s Sunbeam Award Gala will be on Thursday, August 21, 2025, and awardees will be announced in the Spring of 2025.  

70 volunteers from 11 states made their way to the Mission’s Downeast Campus this summer to make much needed repairs to homes in the area. For more than 20 years, hundreds of volunteers have each spent a week in Cherryfield as part of the Housing Improvement program, helping the community and exploring Downeast Maine.  

“All of the volunteers showed amazing grit, working through rainstorms, extreme heat, and difficult situations” says Housing Improvement Program Director Jennifer Kempthorne. “And they did it all with a cheerful attitude and kindness.” The groups stay on the Mission’s Downeast Campus, and when they find themselves with down time, they explore the local area. Some excursions include visiting the nearby Schoodic Peninsula or Acadia National Park, enjoying a lobster bake, or going to one of the nearby beaches.  Some groups come back and volunteer over multiple years, creating a deep connection with the area, and program, and of course, the Mission.  

This year, the groups also learned more about the Mission’s vast history, and its work both in Downeast Maine and on outer, unbridged islands. Devin Mack, Development Operations Associate, shared more about the Mission’s program areas: island health and outreach, primary and secondary education, scholarships, food security, community engagement, and housing improvement. These program areas all fall under the umbrella of the Social Determinants of Health, which are five non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. This framework has been accepted by the United Nations (UN) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, with the UN writing that the Social Determinants of Health can be more important than access health care or lifestyle choices in a person’s health outcomes. These talks gave volunteers a greater idea of the breath of programming the Mission offers. Devin also shared with volunteers how they could stay engaged with the Mission year-round through things like donations through both the online giving platform and through the Mission’s program and Christmas wish lists. 

Learn more about the Housing Improvement program and its impact.  

Every summer, students in the Journey program go on their core trip. The trip is an opportunity for students to spend time together, learn, and grow. During the summer going into ninth grade, they spend four days on Swan’s Island learning about its history, doing community service projects, and exploring the many scenic beaches. Students on this year’s trip also learned some different skills, including problem solving and adaptability, and they witnessed how community comes together to offer support.  

If there were any emergencies during the night, the staff had access to the parsonage down the road, and there was water left in a few of the coolers. It was decided to see what the next day would bring and reassess it in the morning. With nothing changed by daybreak, staff alerted the church and waited to see if a plumber could visit. However, with core trips often being a highlight of the Journey program and planned out and scheduled ahead of time, staff wanted to find a way to keep students on the trip and started brainstorming other possibilities.  

Within hours, the community jumped into action. While the church tried to locate a plumber, a Mission staff member called Kim Colbeth, a longtime Swan’s resident. For the past few years, Kim has talked to students about island history, and with deep community connections. After she made a few calls, Swan’s Island Church of God opened their doors to students for the next few days. At the same time, a board member of the Baptist church primed the pump for the well and the water was back! 

All of this happened in a few hours. While students had heard about the Swan’s Island community and how they had worked together in the past, but now they saw it in action. Many of them also realized that what had seemed like a big problem at one moment, was only a small inconvenience a few hours later. At the end of each trip, Journey staff asked for students’ reflections, and many saw this time as an important part of the experience, with one writing, “I learned that you have to persevere and get through all the obstacles that are thrown at you.” Another shared, “I learned that not everything has to go exactly how it was planned to have a good trip.”  

These core trips allow students to learn more about themselves, their cohort, and the communities they visit. They push their boundaries, see what they are capable of, and begin to think about their futures. Which is what Journey is all about.   

Learn more about the Journey program and if you are interested in offering support and mentoring to Journey students, the program is accepting mentors.