AUGUSTA

Maine state service award winners

First lady Anne LePage presented service awards to seven winners during the recently held 26th Annual Governor’s Awards for Service and Volunteerism ceremony.

The program honors individuals for their leadership efforts that positively affect Maine residents.
Winners included: Volunteer of the Year – Janice Bilodeau of Auburn; National Service Volunteer – Elisabeth “Lis” Lohmueller of South Thomaston; Youth Volunteer of the Year – Julia Brown of Brunswick; Outstanding Service-learning Practitioner – Donna Vigue of Dexter; Volunteer Hero – Laurianne Cormier of Lewiston; School District Excellence in Service-learning Award – Sanford School Department; The Outstanding Non-Profit Volunteer Program Award – Trekkers of South Thomaston; and Corporate Volunteerism Award –  Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of North Berwick.

For more details, or a complete list of those honored, go to www.VolunteerMaine.org.

WESTBROOK

Girl Scouts scholarship winner

Monia Mukiza of Westbrook received the Jo Stevens Scholarship at the Girl Scouts of Maine Annual Meeting in April.

The $250 scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding Girl Scout senior whose accomplishments embody the Girl Scout mission of courage, confidence and character.

Originally from the Congo, Central Africa, Mukiza and her family immigrated to the United States in 2000. She has been a Girl Scout for 12 years, has served as a council delegate, worked at Girl Scout Camp and earned the prestigious Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Awards for projects that benefited the youth in her community. 

For more details, go to www.girlscoutsofmaine.org.

LEWISTON

Pastoral education program

The following individuals recently completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Central Maine Medical Center: Elizabeth Hood of Phippsburg, a graduate of the Academy for Christian Life and Leadership; Jennifer Reed of Vassalboro, a Bangor Theological Seminary student; Rebecca Sommons of Vassalboro, a Bangor Theological Seminary student; Rev. Alicia Kellogg of Winthrop, an Episcopal deacon serving at St Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hallowell; and Daniel Doyon of Lewiston, a chaplain serving at Youville Pavilion in Lewiston.

The course, one of just two such programs offered in Maine, is accredited through the U.S. Department of Education. Students undergo 400 hours of supervised ministry, including through visitation, individual and group reflection, didactics, written materials and pertinent reading.

For more details, call 795-2291.

SANFORD

Girl receives honorable mention

A 13-year-old resident Sydney Pepin received honorable mention during the Governors Awards for Service and Volunteerism event at the State House in Augusta for her youth volunteer work to aid cancer patients.

Pepin was recognized for her efforts to encourage cancer patients at the Cancer Care Center of York County in Sanford by creating goodie bags for them to open on their first day of chemotherapy.

Pepin began creating the bags two years ago, when her aunt and uncle were both diagnosed with cancer within weeks of each other. Since then, she has made and donated of more than 100 “Care Bags.” It’s for the gift bags are donated by Sanford and Springvale businesses.

KENNEBUNK

Library received wellness grant

The Kennebunk Free Library Wellness Team received a $750 Wellness Grant from the University of New England’s Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition to fund healthy initiative programs at the library.

Those funds were used to provide pedometers, discounted yoga sessions, low cost healthy snacks and an upcoming presentation by Nutrition Consultant Ed Welles.

KFL’s Wellness Team maintains a staff “Wellness Bulletin Board” which displays healthy recipes, walking routes, nutrition and smoking cessation information. The Team is also in charge of the monthly staff fitness challenge.

WELLS

Playground ribbon cutting

The Parent Teacher Student Association of Wells held a ribbon cutting ceremony recently to officially unveil a new 16- by 20-foot sun shade structure on the playground at Wells Elementary School.

The green-roofed canopy was built to provide children with a place to take a break from the sun during recess as well as a spot for outdoor classes. The structure has a reinforced heavy metal roof and is built to withstand 100 mph winds. Two picnic tables are situated beneath the canopy, that cost $16,000 to build.

Money for the project was secured over a five-year period through a variety of fundraisers.

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