President’s Page – Maine Community Foundation

Mobilizing the Future Prosperity of Maine Through Giving

With 2019 well under way, this edition of Maine Ties offers a handful of stories that highlight our work in donor services, community and county grantmaking, and professional advisor outreach.

In 1921, the Fidelity Trust Company of Portland established the Maine Charity Foundation to support Maine people considered most deserving of assistance. Transferred to MaineCF as a competitive grant fund in 1993, the Maine Charity Foundation Fund has since awarded more than 700 grants totaling over $1.86 million, including $78,000 in 2018 to support transportation for older Mainers.
As we build on our strategic goals, including support for older Maine people, donors are joining our efforts. Case in point: Courtney Collins from Belfast transferred portions of her MaineCF donor-advised fund to three of our strategic goals: ensuring young children receive a healthy start, making certain adult learners are able to complete degree or certificate programs, and eliminating barriers to opportunities based on race or ethnicity. What inspired her to make these gifts? She tells us her story.
We can’t achieve our principal goal – to improve the quality of life for all Maine people – without our more than 150 county advisors. As we go to press, these volunteer advisors are reviewing applications to the Community Building Grant Program, our largest. A profile of one of them, Sara Stockwell from Waterford in Oxford County, underscores the dedication of these volunteers to their communities and counties .
Former MaineCF board member and longtime Investment Committee advisor Jean Deighan is committed to the betterment of Bangor and Penobscot County. She played a key role in establishing the Penobscot County Fund, which marks its 10^th anniversary this year. Jean tells that story and shares her thoughts on the impact of new tax laws on charitable giving.
Farther north, Ray and Sandy Gauvin of Mapleton are working to educate students and “mobilize the future prosperity” of their county through the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative. Aspirations also play a part in a program that encourages high school students to explore the innovative possibilities and potential of pursuing livelihoods in the forests and on the sea.

We’re in full planning mode for our third statewide strategic goal summit to be held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on November 13. The summit will focus on entrepreneurship and innovation in Maine and their potential to build the state’s future. We want to engage a broad and diverse audience in identifying specific steps to support entrepreneurs, innovators, and dreamers in communities across Maine. Stay tuned for particulars. I hope you’ll join us.