Sunbeam Award Gala

Join the Mission for the 2027 Sunbeam Award Gala!  The event is the Mission’s annual opportunity to celebrate those who embody the ideals of the community and whose work has made a lasting impact.

Awardees for the 2027 Sunbeam Award Gala will be announced next winter. Thank you to our 2026 awardees, Andrew Davis and Reverend Scott Planting, for their commitment to the communities that the Mission serves.

Happening at the Bar Harbor Club on Mount Desert Island, doors will open at 5:00 p.m. Attendees will enjoy light appetizers and drinks before the program begins at 5:30 p.m. In addition to honoring the two awardees, the program will share a little about about the Mission’s work. A catered reception on the Club’s veranda at 6:30 p.m.

Thank you, 2026 Sunbeam awardees

Andrew Davis

Davis, through the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, created the Davis Maine Scholarship to ensure that more first-generation college students from our rural areas have the opportunity to complete undergraduate degrees untethered by financial burden. From senior year of high school through college graduation, 23 Davis Maine Scholars currently receive support and mentoring from the Mission. Four additional Scholars will be selected this spring.

Reverend Scott Planting

Rev. Planting served as the Mission’s president from 2010 to 2019. During his tenure, he played a key role in developing the organization’s Cherryfield campus, strengthening the foundation of the EdGE program, and broadening scholarship opportunities. For islands, he oversaw the expansion of telehealth services through the Sunbeam. He also initiated the Mission’s transition from its longtime home in Bar Harbor to a new headquarters in Northeast Harbor.