‘Heroes with Heart’ honored

at annual celebration

PORTLAND — The Community Counseling Center has selected seven recipients to be honored at the organization’s Sixth Annual Heroes with Heart celebration.

Heroes with Heart is an annual event that celebrates volunteers from the Trauma Intervention Program, police officers, firefighters, first responders, and hospital personnel who provide support to victims immediately following tragic events.  

This year’s Community Award recipients include Sgt. Roberty Doherty of the Portland Police Department; Lt. Aaron Osgood of the Portland Fire Department; Howard Sterling, firefighter and chaplain with the South Portland Fire Department; Officer Rocco Navarro with the South Portland Police Department; Sgt. Sean Lally of the Westbrook Police Department; and Kandy Lefebvre, R.N., of Maine Medical Center.

Seth Seder, R.N., of Maine Medical Center will be presented with the TIP Volunteer Choice Award. Kate Braestrup, chaplain to the Maine Warden Service and New York Times bestselling author, will be presented with the 2011 Heart of Gold Award. The award is given annually to someone who embodies true compassion and kindness in the pursuit of helping others during difficult times.

Good Deeds, Donations

Wright Express Corporation has donated a total of more than $40,000 to six arts organizations that provide musical and theater performances. Recipients include the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, Portland Stage, Maine State Music Theatre, Portland Players and Portland Ovations.

At the fourth annual Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland’s YOUth Can Build LEGO House Buildathon, $3,500 was raised by participants to fund a Habitat home in Westbrook. Forty teams participated in the buildathon held at  the Maine Mall in South Portland.
 
The Mid Coast Hospital Auxiliary recently made the final payment on its $150,000 pledge toward the new Emergency Department waiting area, bringing its support in major pledges for the Mid Coast Hospital campus to $800,000.

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The Portland Sea Dogs has again partnered with FairPoint Communications for the FairPoint Community First Table at Hadlock Field for a second season.  The table will provide local nonprofit organizations a space to promote their cause at Sea Dogs’ home games throughout the 2011 season. Nonprofits interested in displaying information at the table and having access to the Sea Dogs fan base are asked to send the Sea Dogs a copy of their 501(c)(3) certificate and submit a Community First Table request form available on the Sea Dogs website at seadogs.com. Space will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

The Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church of Portland donated nearly $1,000 to Grace Street Ministry to help purchase coats, gloves, boots, and other severe winter weather items. Grace Street Ministry was founded by Pastor Mair Honan who conducts prayer services and distributes necessary material items to homeless people in Portland.

Junior Achievement of Maine recently sponsored its Job Shadow 2011 program to enable middle school students to get an up-close look at different career opportunities. Local participating businesses included Cianbro Corporation of Portland, Community Credit Union, Dead River Company offices in Brunswick and Scarborough, Diversified Business Communications, Eastland Park Hotel, FairPoint Communications, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, Gorham Savings Bank, Greater Portland YMCA, IDEXX Laboratories, Kid’s Crooked House of Portland, L.L. Bean, Maine Credit Union League, MEMIC, Mercy Hospital, Portland Harbor Hotel, Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks, Portland Public Library, Powerpay, Nelson & Small Inc., ReVision Energy of Portland, Sprague Energy Corp., WASCO Products Inc., Walch Education of Portland, WMTW TV8, and Volk Packaging Corporation.

Oakhurst Dairy raised $20,600 during its latest Egg Nog campaign to benefit the Salvation Army of Northern New England. Oakhurst has contributed approximately $200,000 to the Salvation Army since the inception of its egg nog campaign in 2000.

Downeast Energy
recently donated a 2004 Chevrolet van to the Bath Area Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen. The food pantry and kitchen is run by a coalition of 12 Bath churches, and has an average of nearly 200 families visit the food pantry and serves an average of 1,900 meals per month at the soup kitchen. The van will be used by both the food pantry and soup kitchen for regular pickup of food at Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, donations from various businesses and restaurants and the monthly USDA food distributions.

University of New England students of the College of Pharmacy class of 2013 recently held its first annual Halfway Charity Gala and raised $1,800 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine. The gala, which included an auction and raffle, was initiated by the inaugural UNE pharmacy doctoral students who are half-way to earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

Five County Credit Union recently hosted two free financial education courses for Bath Iron Works employees and spouses. Representatives from the credit union presented information on banking, types of banking accounts, saving money, investing basics and more.

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Space Gallery recently received a $2,500 grant from the Rines/Thompson Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to support its ongoing film series. The grant will support 24 new, contemporary film programs and will bring directors, producers and speakers to conduct discussion sessions at the film screenings in 2011.

The Maine Humanities Council received a $7,500 grant from the Helen and George Ladd Charitable Corporation in support of its early literacy program, Born to Read. The new grant will enable the council to offer 20 Born to Read trainings to educators throughout Maine.

The South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Rotary Club has awarded a grant to the Thomas Memorial Library to purchase the complete series of “Families of the World” DVDs for children. The award-winning series features 24 DVDs, each profiling two families in diverse world regions.

Good Theater recently received a grant from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation for $4,000 to fund general operating expenses during the 2010-2011 season. This is the third time the Cohen Foundation has awarded money to Good Theater.

Maine State Ballet recently received an $8,000 award from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to support the orchestra and choral groups which perform during the ballet’s annual performances of The Nutcracker.

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Share Our Strength Maine’s Cooking Matters to Maine program, a family nutrition education initiative, received a $2,600 donation from proceeds raised at the Second Annual Cold River Bartenders Bash. Maine Distilleries and Maine Beverage Company hosted over 500 guests who voted for the best Cold River cocktails created by 20 different bartenders. Contributing donation sponsors included Maine Beverage Company, Bow Street Distributing, RSVP Discount Beverage, and Better Bread Company. Pictured from left, are Chris Dowe, Bob Harkins, both of Maine Distilleries; Kristen Miale, of Cooking Matters to Maine; and Dean Williams, of Maine Beverage Company.

Southern Maine Agency on Aging recognized its many volunteers at a special luncheon during National Volunteer Week. SMAA invited over 1,300 volunteers, including volunteers who deliver Meals on Wheels, RSVP volunteers who are placed in non-profits and healthcare facilities throughout Cumberland County, and volunteer counselors for seniors. Special awards were presented to Rip and Jessie Haskell of Cape Elizabeth, pictured here, for 25 years as RSVP volunteers. Burt and Sally Rendall of Scarborough and Elizabeth Smith of Portland were honored for 20 years as RSVP volunteers. Fred and Nellie Chambers, Gertrude Jordan and Dorothy Martin, all of Westbrook, were each recognized for 20 years as volunteers for Meals on Wheels.


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