Current Davis Maine Scholars pose at the University of New England
Earlier this fall, Davis Maine Scholarship Program Director Ace Barrera posed a question to Davis Maine Scholars currently attending college. What would have helped them better transition from high school to college? Their answers helped Ace and EdGE Secondary and Post-Secondary Program Director Christy Oliveri create a series of workshops to provide high school students with tips and guidance.
The workshop will cover a wide range of topics including being away from home for the first time to matching career and major. This series is meant to be a supplement to what students are learning about in school. The first workshop in December focused on how to move away from home and find “your people” at college. Christy explains, “Most students in Downeast Maine are moving at least one to two hours away from home which can be a hard transition for many students. Students who find a support network at school often have an easier transition.”
The second workshop in January will help students prepare for the difference between high school and college classes. Davis Maine Scholars have said that their college classes are often a challenge for them. They had to learn new study skills and figure out how to navigate things like faculty office hours and study groups. Mission President John Zavodny, who was previously Chief of Staff at Unity College, will share his insights from working with students throughout their college journeys.
The next workshop on in February will cover finances around college including budgeting and saving, as well as working while attending college. Mission Board President Matt Skaves, who served as Birchbrook’s former Chief Investment Officer, will provide guidance on different ways to budget.
The remaining three workshops focus on exploring careers and how students can match their college studies and major to a possible career path. The first workshop looks at how to turn an interest, ability, or talent into a career. The second talk explores tools and resources students can use to develop a career path during college. The last workshop will cover how to connect college majors to a future career path. Christy explains these talks came from students’ desires to learn more about careers parths when they are deciding on colleges and majors.
The workshops on January 18 and February 15 will be held virtually on Zoom and the workshops on March 21, April 25, and May 16 will be held at the Mission’s Weald Bethel Community Center, 39 Weald Bethel Lane, Cherryfield. These workshops are free and are open to students in eastern Hancock and Washington County. For more information or for a link to the virtual talks contact Ace at abarrera@seacoastmission.org or (207) 478-4334.
Jillian in the ‘Sunbeam V’ galley. (Photo by Tristan Spinski)
2,238. It is often hard to quantify the impact someone has had on a community, but one number the Mission reports each year is the number of cookies Jillian bakes. While this number might seem insignificant, it carries a lot of meaning. Islanders will stop on the Sunbeam to grab a few cookies and chat with the crew. Director of Island Services Douglas Cornman and Sunbeam Nurse Simone Babineaux often bring a few small bags of Jillian’s cookies to give to residents who cannot make it to the boat. As Captain Mike Johnson explains, “The Sunbeam is not all about cookies, but the jars at the end of the counter are emblematic of our philosophy. As is Jillian. Her part in making the boat a welcoming spot is beyond compare.” Jillian will bake her last cookie for the Sunbeam on a Christmas trip this month and will officially leave the Mission at the end of year.
Jillian says, “I am grateful for my time aboard the beloved Sunbeam. It has been a wonderful experience and my honor to represent the Maine Seacoast Mission.” She adds, “Islanders have been so good to me. I will miss them.”
Jillian was a well-known fixture at the Mission’s Downeast campus in Cherryfield before joining the Sunbeam’s crew in 2014. For many years Jillian had both attended and cooked for the Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) at the Weald Bethel Community Center. She eventually was referred to the Sunbeam when they were looking for a new steward for the crew. Now, nine years later, her welcoming smile and calls of “Hello, matey” will be missed by both islanders and fellow crew members.
“Jillian was effortlessly welcoming and a great addition from the day she started,” Mike says. She was committed to a “farm-to-table” cooking style and cared about the food she served. She sourced many of the ingredients for her meals from her own garden or from farmers in Cherryfield.
Douglas says this care and compassion helped made the boat feel like a home. “Her meals are frequently served family style with all the food being passed from person to person. Like a ‘mom,’ she is the last person to sit down because she is making certain that everyone has what they need. I cannot think of anyone who has ever stepped on to the Sunbeam that has not been spoiled by Jillian.”
In addition to being a welcoming presence on the Sunbeam, Jillian wrote about her time on the water for the Mission. She shared everything from her experience during the first round of Covid vaccinations on the islands to her new knowledge of nautical terminology (see her articles on list and fo’c’s’le), to how she was a steward without a galley. She also shared her love of art with her creating signs on the Downeast campus, including the iconic DETOP sign, as well as countless collages. Earlier this year, she shared her collection of photographs of the marquee sign in Cherryfield that she has updated for more than six years. The marquee shared everything from inspiration messages to important town information.
These varied interests and knowledge helped her on the Sunbeam. Sunbeam Engineer Storey King says “Jillian has a unique way of connecting and communicating with people. She has always focused on community.” Mike adds, “Jillian can comfortably chat with anyone. Her infectious smile and ease with conversation transformed the Sunbeam into the hospitality model it is today.”
And for one last time, here is Jillian’s famous cookie recipe as seen in The Bulletin from Winter 2020.
The Mission’s Christmas elves are checking their lists and want to make sure that you do not miss upcoming deadlines for the Christmas Program.
The last day parents and caregivers can sign up for the Christmas Program is Friday, December 15. The program provides gifts to children living in Addison, Beals Island, Cherryfield, Columbia, Columbia Falls, Deblois, Harrington, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Milbridge, Steuben, and on Mount Desert Island and the unbridged islands the Mission serves. Families can sign up on our website or call the Downeast campus in Cherryfield at (207) 546-4466.
Once families register their child or children to receive gifts, a parent or guardian can either shop at the North Pole on the Cherryfield campus or pick gifts up in-person at a Mission site in Cherryfield or Northeast Harbor. The last day for shopping in-person is Friday, December 22. The last day for pick-up is Saturday, December 23.
For those who wish to donate new items to the Christmas Program, the Mission still is accepting gifts for this year’s program through Friday, December 22. Gifts can be delivered or shipped to:
7 Weald Bethel Lane
PO Box 428
Cherryfield, Maine 04622
The Program needs items for all ages but has the greatest need for gifts for teens (such as gift cards, beauty products, and books young adult and science fiction books, are popular!) and toys from children (such as building blocks, dolls, and cars). A full wish list can be seen on our website and there is also an Amazon wish list to browse. The Mission also accepts gift cards and financial gifts for the program as well.
“The Christmas program deeply matters to our Downeast communities,” says Jenny Jones, Downeast Director. “Many parents or guardians ask for such simple items such as a new winter coat, or new boots, and with the support of the community we can provide those necessities as well as an unexpected but treasure, that really makes the holiday memorable.”
Each year, the Mission provides gifts to thousands of people living in Downeast and coastal Maine and on unbridged islands including children, families, elders, prisoners, and nursing home residents. Learn more about the program and its history on our website.
After seven years at the Mission and a highly successful career in accounting, Jeff Shaw will retire as the Mission’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the end of December. Jeff joined the organization on a temporary basis in 2016 to finish a financial report for a grant. By the year’s end, he was hired as the Director of Finance. In 2020, he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer.
Jeff worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that things at the Mission ran smoothly, doing everything from financial reports to troubleshooting technology issues. Ever the night owl, it was not uncommon to receive an email from Jeff at any hour (and into the wee hours of the morning).
Mission President John Zavodny shares, “Jeff is one of those rare people who combines rock solid professionalism with humor and a big heart. It’s easy to see how competent Jeff is. Not everyone gets to see how much he cares about our communities and the people he works with. It has been my honor to witness his deep commitment every day.”
Prior to joining the Mission, Jeff worked extensively as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), auditor, CFO for nonprofits and religious organizations along the eastern seaboard and on west coast. He jokes about a self-imposed five-year time limit at previous jobs, but his time at the Mission stretched well beyond that. “There have been both hard times and good times at the Mission, but this has been a great place to end my career. I have enjoyed working with the Board of Directors, Finance Committee, Audit Committee, and staff. The time has gone by fast.” Jeff talks about hard financial choices the Mission faced in his first year of employment, but these decisions created an organization with greater financial stability and bolstered the Mission’s stronger sense of stewardship.
Colleagues say Jeff’s keen attention to detail and his role as a skillful diplomat made the sometimes-difficult budget season easier by facilitating dialogue and consensus. Known to crack a joke to put the room at ease, Jeff often took gentle ribbing at his quirks and idiosyncrasies with a smile and a nod. In his role, he was responsible for information technology as well as facilities management, which he embraced with gusto, making sure that the Mission’s Colket Center based in Northeast Harbor was clean and tidy (sometimes sneakily cleaning colleagues’ offices to tidy and straighten blinds after they left for the day).
Jeff was also instrumental in shifting the Mission’s fiscal year from December to June. Aligning a fiscal year to an organization’s fundraising cycle is an important fiscal consideration for any nonprofit. “The board needed to approve the 2017 annual budget, but results of the end-of-year annual giving campaign would not be known for a few more weeks.” Improving the Mission’s fiscal operations left December for all to enjoy the Christmas season even more.
He also championed the sale of the LaRochelle house on West Street in Bar Harbor in favor of moving to humbler and Mission-appropriate administrative headquarters in the organization’s current home of Northeast Harbor. Jeff says that these recommendations and initiatives were some highlights of his career at the Mission. “I have the pleasure to work with so many great people,” Jeff says. “It was a long way to get here but I am glad this is where I ended up.”
The Mission’s corporate sponsors support the Mission’s work all year. Through their generosity and the generosity of all of our donors, the Mission can help sustain and strengthen families and communities. The Mission’s two platinum sponsors Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and Wyman’s each have supported the Mission for decades.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust was founded in 1887 and has supported the Mission since its inception in 1905. Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is a community bank offering a full range of financial services to individuals, families, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Today, the bank manages over 50 locations throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 2020, they contributed more than $590,000 in charitable donations to more than 400 community organizations.
Wyman’s of Maine has been a family-owned business since 1874. And they are dedicated to environmentally friendly growing practices. Wyman’s supports a number of initiatives geared towards ensuring the viability of the regions they work in and partner with organizations—including the Mission—who share their vision for healthier communities today and for future generations. Wyman’s has been a corporate sponsor of the Mission for over 20 years.
We wish to thank each corporate sponsor for believing in the thriving communities Maine Seacoast Mission seeks to assist on Maine’s islands and Downeast coastline. Become a sponsor for our organization and create a customized package to best fit your organization’s goals. To learn more about corporate sponsorship opportunities, please contact Development Operations Associate David Snyder at dsnyder@seacoastmission.org or by calling (207) 801-6010.
The Mission’s EdGE program is known for its afterschool and summer camp programming, which has provided a safe, nurturing space for kids for more than 20 years. But EdGE happens during school time too! This year, the Mission offers in-school programming for all seven EdGE partner schools in Washington County.
The in-school activities focus on the same goals as afterschool and reach all students even those who do not attend the Mission’s afterschool programming. During in-school programming EdGE’s Youth Development Coordinators work with students on communication as well as social and leadership skills. The coordinators visit the seven participating primary schools a few times monthly to visit all grades’ classrooms. Primary Youth Development Coordinator Wren Wakeman explains, “A usual session starts with an opening question. Students then transition to games and activities, which focus on working cooperatively.”
Last year, 6th grade students at D.W. Merritt Elementary in Addison participated in ten weeks of EdGE in-school programming. Wren says at the beginning of the initiative, the students were unsure and a little reluctant to participate. At one session early on, the students were posed a question, What color are you feeling? “The kids were not super into it; they didn’t really want to answer,” she says, “But around week three, I saw a change in the kids. They started to open up. By the eighth week they would come in telling us their color.”
Wren explains questions like these that Youth Development Coordinators pose give students a space to engage with potentially harder or less talked about topics (like emotions) in a safe and meaningful way. Such questions also help each student understand they view the world through their own unique lens. She says the students soon were able to identify that people see things differently “one person’s feeling sad might be associated with blue and the person standing next to them might associate blue with the feeling of happiness.”
The Mission works with students on both their social and emotional development. Programs are designed to focus on all of skills that they might not get in the classroom and includes key components like a physical activity, cooperative work that challenges students to rely on each other to complete a task, and time to think and reflect on what they have accomplished.
In-school programming started at a few schools last year, but it really took off at D.W. Merritt Elementary where a couple of teachers welcomed EdGE into their classroom every week. Lorna N. Greene, the school’s principal, says the Youth Development Coordinators help students build social, leadership and team building skills. “I see [the students’] confidence, determination and self-esteem grow. This helps make them better students, better friends and better members of the school community!” Because of this success, word spread to other schools. For the 2023-2024 school year, all seven of the Mission’s partner schools are utilizing the Mission’s in-school programming.
In addition to in-school and afterschool programming, EdGE also offers summer camps and the Marion Kane Leadership program.
