Downeast Exploration Fund
Downeast Exploration Fund
Building on Gigi Georges’ book, Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America (Harper Collins, 2021), the author and her husband, Jeff Oxman, created the Downeast Exploration Fund. Celebrating the continued strength and resilience residing in the young people of the Downeast region, the Fund honors the leadership, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and passion for a range of pursuits exemplified by the five remarkable young women portrayed in the book. These five young women played a central role in developing the fund’s objective and defining its scope.
Eligible applicants may apply for grants to explore their own passions and pursue experiences not otherwise available to them. This extends to participation in camps, outdoor learning experiences, and lessons in music, art, sports, or equestrian pursuits. The Fund will award up to $5,000 annually. This amount will be dispersed to eligible 6th through 12th graders, including rising 6th graders and just-graduated seniors.
To learn more about Gigi Georges and her book, please visit our news piece and the author’s website.
From the Author, Gigi Georges
“Exploration is vital to rural youth today. Through it, young people can begin to imagine and shape their lives in the future.
Following the book’s publication, my husband and I founded the Downeast Exploration Fund to support experiences beyond the classroom and celebrate the continued strength and resilience of the young people of Maine’s Downeast region. The book’s five young women played a central role in developing the fund’s objective and defining its scope: to help expand opportunities beyond the classroom for other Downeast kids.”
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