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Gimme a "T", gimme an "H", ... put it all together and what do you get? Thank you!
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With help from dozens of "Cheers from the Heart" competition cheerleaders who gathered in Scarborough earlier this month for their annual charity event, we shared a shout, a grin, and a heartfelt "thank you" with the enthusiastic crowd in the stands. The teams, coaches and fans pulled together for a day of giving back to the community, and the Scarborough High School Cheerleading Club raised $450 for the fuel assistance fund. |
But we're also sending this virtual cheer along, because we're grateful for the many youthful hearts and hands at work making a difference. Read on... |
 Three Cheers for Our Youth! |
February 2013
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Let's hear it for the students of the St. Max Youth Group who helped us set up the church hall for the holidays and sort gifts. Another hearty cheer is raised for the Scarborough Girls and Boys Hockey Teams: the girls team helped us organize and wrap gifts, while the boys team helped us clean up and then set the chairs for Mass in record time. Several individual students also helped out as needed. A big cheer also goes out to the kids of the Big 20 Youth Bowling League for sponsoring an epic toy drive. The students at Pond Cove Elementary School get a huge thanks for decorating enough tags to fill four giving trees at the Inn by the Sea, and for conducting a bountiful Thanksgiving food drive. Meanwhile Blue Point Elementary School students decorated cheerful Thanksgiving placemats, Christmas cards, and Valentine's Day treat bags, too. We were also impressed with the fundraising efforts of the Sokokis Team at Scarborough Middle School and the Scarborough High School Life Skills Class, helping local families feed their kids and keep their homes warm.
But even more so, these gifts show there is goodwill and love aplenty from the youth in our community. So, 'Hip-Hip-Hooray' and from our hearts to yours, thank you!
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Area businesses step forward to fundraise for fuel assistance...
Growing Up Poor in America
Frontline airs moving portrait of poverty...
Paying It Forward
Holiday giving updates and words of thanks from our neighbors...
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Neighbors Helping Neighbors
We won't leave our neighbors out in the cold!
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Keeping Families Warm |
 It didn't take a blizzard of historic proportions to remind us that too many families from all walks of life are struggling to keep furnaces running and homes warm. Last season Project G.R.A.C.E. provided over $37,000 in fuel assistance, or nearly 100 deliveries of oil, propane, or wood. Requests for help have been way ahead of last year at this time, and with plenty of cold weather still ahead, we're working to ensure there will be enough to go around.
With support from local business leaders, the Town, and families with extra to spare, we hope to meet an ambitious fundraising goal of $50,000 for the Scarborough Fuel Assistance Fund.
The Scarborough Chamber of Commerce, SEDCO, and Buy Local Scarborough groups are reaching out to their members to encourage additional investments in community. We're happy to report several leadership gifts and pledges of $500 to $1,500 have already come in, but we also got $28 from a group of youthful entrepreneurs. Large or small, all gifts are gratefully received.
Although our fundraising efforts are progressing, we've still got a ways to go if we are to keep those oil trucks rolling. Stay tuned for an honor roll of donors; in the meantime, please read on to learn more about how you can help. |
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Bakers Turn Flour and Eggs into Mittens and Coats for Kids
A benefit bake sale was held by the residents of Scarborough Terrace, raising more than $200. Thanks to an employee's savvy shopping, more than $600 worth of warm hats, mittens, coats and boots were purchased for local children.
Toy Drive A Bridge Between Generations
Residents of Piper Shores collected toys and gifts for children, and spread a lot of good cheer this season. Volunteers were delighted to discover several hand-made wooden toys among the offerings, and we know all the gifts brought kids joy on Christmas morning.
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Holiday Giving Update
The Thanksgiving and Christmas "Adopt-a-Family" programs distributed food and presents for more than ninety local families as well as individuals at CASA, Edgewood, the Morrison Center, Family Crisis Shelter, Pine Point Nursing Home, Preble Street's Teen Center, and Longcreek Youth Development Center. We had an enormous amount of help from families, book clubs, workplaces of all sizes and types, faith communities, and neighborhood associations to provide this outpouring of love and support to our neighbors having a hard time this holiday season. For all gifts, we are truly thankful. Easter's Coming - You Can Help!
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Paying It Forward
Countless hours are invested in the good works of Project G.R.A.C.E., and we're pleased to share a few excerpts from the thank you notes sent in by our neighbors:
"...we enjoy the care and love that comes with our holiday basket. From the colorful placemats to the excitement of a jar of peanut butter... As we said our thanks at the dinner table, we were thankful for you."
"...you've made this holiday one of the happiest that I've had..."
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Please Cast Your Vote for Project G.R.A.C.E. |
Your Vote Could Help Us Win Again!
Please take a moment to help us win another Community Matters More prize! Last year we had enough votes to take second place in the Greater Portland/Lewiston-Auburn write-in category, earning us a $500 grant from Bangor Savings Bank. Frankly, we're more than a little amazed we could win in such a competitive category, but success breeds confidence. With your vote, we hope to do it again! Learn more... |
Easter Efforts to Emphasize Providing Food for Families |
You Can Help Us Feed Our Neighbors!
With the cost of groceries on the rise, we all feel the pinch. The Good Shepherd Food Bank recently reported nearly 200,000 people in Maine are facing hunger, including 1 in 4 children. Here in our own neighborhood it's a daily challenge for some families to get enough nutritious food. Too many aren't sure where their next meal will come from, or if it will be enough. Food pantries are doing their best to meet the need, but even their shelves are sometimes sparse. As more families turn to Project G.R.A.C.E. for help, we are even more committed to making sure none have to ask the question, to eat or heat?
Our Easter outreach this year will focus on offering practical assistance, with an emphasis on feeding our neighbors. We're inviting volunteers to sign up online to 'adopt-a-family' to provide a holiday meal basket (or gift cards or fruit baskets) this Easter. Mark your calendars now for the drop off dates: Sunday, March 24th (3-5) and Monday, March 25th (9-11) at St. Maximilian-Kolbe 150 Blackpoint Road, Scarborough. Please watch your in-box for more details!
In April we'll be partnering with Friends of Scarborough Marsh and the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center on a food drive in conjunction with the annual town-wide clean up of the marsh and beaches. Learn more... |
Growing Up Poor in America |
Have you seen "Poor Kids"?
In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, a haunting documentary "Poor Kids" aired on PBS. Frontline's filmmakers simply turned the camera on, and let the children speak. It's an intimate, candid, and moving portrait of children and poverty, and of life lived in the shadow of hope. Watch now... |
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We're Neighbors
Helping Neighbors!
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