PORTLAND

Bowling for charity

Students at Cheverus High School raised $4,300 for the Maine Parkinson’s Society through the annual bowl-a-thon at Yankee Lanes in Portland.

Ten teams of four from Cheverus participated in the event. All of the money raised will stay in Maine to help families caring for loved ones with Parkinson’s disease.

Bryan Cross, a senior at Cheverus who lives in Scarborough, organized the fundraiser. He recruited the bowlers from throughout the Cheverus community.

School fights hunger

The Cheverus High School Key Club is teaming up with Bangor Savings Bank to “Spread the Love,” for its campaign to fight hunger by collecting jars of peanut butter and jelly.

The collected jars will be distributed to local food pantries this spring to help needy families in the Portland area.

AUGUSTA

Farm share for seniors

Maine seniors will again be able to get free, fresh produce this growing season from local farms.

For the 12th year, Maine seniors who qualify can sign up for the Maine Senior Farm Share Program under the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. Qualified participants will be able to receive $50 worth of fresh produce during the season.

The program is funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

The program is expected to serve more than 18,000 seniors around the state with free produce from approximately 127 Maine farmers.

KENNEBUNKPORT

Fitness program donation

More than 100 Kennebunkport Consolidated School students received stability balls as part of a $15,000 fitness equipment investment funded by the Education Foundation of the Kennebunks and Arundel and Quest Fitness.

The equipment was purchased after teachers from the school attended a Learning and Brain Conference touting the ball’s ability to improve student focus and performance in the classroom. It is believed that sitting on the balls, rather than traditional chairs, engages core muscles, thereby creating active sitting and stimulating the learning center in the brain. A pilot program to test the project was held last year in one classroom.

BIDDEFORD

Healthcare initiatives recognition

Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC) recently was acknowledged for two excellence in health care initiatives.

The hospital’s Center for Breast Care, which opened in October 2011, was designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology after undergoing an evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. The accreditation is given only to facilities with proven best practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.

Also, the Maine Tobacco-Free Hospital Network, in collaboration with the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine, recognized SMMC with a Gold Level Award for taking steps to create a tobacco-free hospital environment and supporting tobacco-free lifestyles for patients, staff and the community. The hospital’s efforts were recognized recently during an annual Gold Star Standards of Excellence awards program celebration.

SANFORD

Food drive success

Students in Willard School’s Kids’ Club after school program will cap a more than month-long food drive with a creative assembly Saturday in Sanford’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Grades 4, 5 and 6 students will create a giant sculpture using non-perishable food items they have been collecting since March 7.

Those items will be donated to the York County Food Rescue.

A Canned Food Drive & Sculpture event held in December 2010 resulted in donations of more than 1,000 cans, from which students made six Christmas tree sculptures.

BIDDEFORD

Students of the Month

The Biddeford Regional Center of Technology recently honored Cassandra Kimball and Brenden Dugalas as Students of the Month. Kimball and Dugalas each received a TD Bank donated monetary award. Also nominated for the award were Kaylee Darigan-Petit, Matthew Dubois, Shane Lafontaine, Brandon Lavoie, Katy Morin and Jeremy Vallee.

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