Awards

Oakhurst and Maine Standard Biofuels received a Breathe Easy Leadership Honorable Mention Award from the Northeast Diesel Collaborative. The awards are given to organizations that have taken significant steps to reduce diesel emissions beyond what law in their locality requires and whose efforts best reflect the goals of the NEDC. Oakhurst and Maine Standard Biofuels were selected because of their seven-year partnership in reducing diesel fuel emissions. Maine Standard Biofuels locally produces biodiesel from used restaurant kitchen oil and delivers it to Oakhurst as fuel for its fleet. This year alone Maine Standard Biofuels supplied Oakhurst with more than 120,000 gallons of biodiesel produced less than 10 miles away from the dairy’s processing facility. The result of the partnership has allowed Oakhurst to decrease its diesel fuel emissions up to 70 percent annually.

Pearl Place II, a 54-apartment affordable housing community in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood, was awarded a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for achievement in green building and design. Pearl Place II is one of only a few multi-family buildings in the state to earn Platinum certification, the highest level in the program. Pearl Place II is 22 percent more energy-efficient than standard buildings with similar characteristics.

Good Deeds

Bill Emerson, treasurer of the Bath Area Food Bank, received almost $3,900 in proceeds on Sept. 9 from the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Family Festival held at Library Park in Bath. An additional $545 in checks written to the Food Bank from the boxed lunch auction and letter drive that brought the total associated with the festival to $4,400. The money will buy more than 13 tons of food. The festival committee of Arlene Whitney, Diane Longley, Cathy Leonard, Eunice Leach, Caelie Smith, Ken Young and Sherry Masters hope the festival will become an annual event. Donations to the Bath Area Food Bank can be sent by a check to P.O. Box 65, Bath, ME 04530. Soup kitchen and food bank volunteers are welcomed. For information, email Director@BathFoodBank.org.

When Preble Street announced the need to replace the floors of its Resource Center Soup Kitchen, temporarily displacing its emergency meals program for four days, dozens of volunteer groups representing large and small business and community organizations rallied to ensure nutritious meals were served three times a day, without interruption.

New Hires, Promotions and Appointments

Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine promoted Angela Giordano to education program manager and hired Erin Saul as lead educator. Giordano was previously the lead educator and assisted in developing and executing a range of violence prevention curricula. Saul comes to the company from STRIVE, a South Portland nonprofit providing services to young adults with developmental disabilities. Saul was also a full time mental health rehabilitation technician at The Bridge, a transitional housing and rehabilitation facility for homeless adults through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps program.

Karen MacDonald, a teacher at King Middle School in Portland, was named Maine’s 2014 Teacher of the Year at a surprise assembly earlier this month. Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen made the announcement to King students and staff, elected officials and other dignitaries who packed the school cafeteria. Noting that King Middle School is a national model, Bowen described MacDonald as “the most consistently innovative teacher at King Middle School for over two decades.”

Julia V. Howland has joined Macpage LLC, a certified public accounting firm with offices in South Portland and Augusta, as a tax staff accountant. Howland received her bachelor’s in accounting from University of Southern Maine this past May. She also has a bachelor’s foreign languages translation and is fluent in Russian and German. Prior to joining the firm, Howland worked at a Portland-based accounting firm. She resides in southern Maine with her husband and son.

Erin Coughlin has been appointed as the new ballet and pointe instructor at Studio 48 Performing Arts and Dance Center, Brunswick. Coughlin will be teaching classes starting in October. Coughlin was a professional ballerina with the Colorado Ballet and the Granite State Ballet. She trained on full scholarship with both the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, and Burklyn Ballet Theater.

New Ventures

Andrew Hanscom is the co-founder of www.localcultureshock.com, a new events based social network which its founders believe will revolutionize the way residents plan their free time. The site is designed to create connections in the community between event organizers, artists and community members. Founders hope to expand localcultureshock.com throughout Maine and New England.

Recognition

The Breathe Easy Coalition of Maine recently named MaineHealth the 2013 Smoke-Free Environments Champion.  The award recognizes MaineHealth’s efforts “to protect Maine residents from secondhand smoke.” This year, all MaineHealth member hospitals were recognized. Six of them achieved gold status from the Maine Tobacco Free Hospitals Network, and three hospitals received silver level recognition.