Allen and Sally Fernald have a bird’s-eye view of the Maine coast from their home in Rockport, with the Camden Hills in the foreground and the islands of Penobscot Bay beyond. This special perspective strengthens their commitment to the community, the region and the state, where both have enduring roots. Sally Carroll Fernald is a […]

A couple of times a year some very special people are guided into the conference room at the Maine Community Foundation’s Portland office. Charles and William Dietz settle into their chairs and begin to review a set of grant applications. Never mind that Charlie is 13 years old and Will is 11, the Dietz boys […]

From the sitting room of their third-floor walk-up on Portland’s Munjoy Hill, David Body and Elizabeth Miller can watch the tugboats return to their berths and the ferries head from the waterfront to Peaks and Long islands. Having met in their middle years, at turning points in their lives, the couple feels comfortable knowing that […]

The way Jack Blum and Alice Blum Yoakum remember it, when Ed Kaelber came to their father with the idea of launching the Maine Community Foundation, Bob pulled a $10 bill from his wallet and made the first contribution. He soon established the Dirigo Fund at the New York Community Trust, which allowed Kaelber, recently […]

On a bright Saturday afternoon in January, Mary Bayer stirs homemade carrot soup in her log home just a few paces from Lovejoy Pond, in the central Maine town of Fayette. Nearby, her husband Leon Bresloff loads logs into a wood-burning stove set into a dramatic two-story chimney built from massive granite stones. The quiet […]