PORTLAND

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation awarded more than $1.5 million in grants and services to MaineHealth and Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership to fight childhood obesity and improve health equity in Maine.

The grant funds will be used to expand campaigns that promote healthier environments and lifestyles for young people.

The MaineHealth award is part of a $4 million regional grant program through the Foundation’s Growing Up Healthy initiative, an ongoing investment by HPHCF to fight childhood obesity. The grants mark the largest single financial commitment the nonprofit insurer has made to date.

The Preble Street Resource Center in Portland will receive a $750,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs to support programs to prevent veteran homelessness.

This is the second year Preble Street will receive the VA grant, in a partnership with the City of Portland and Pine Tree Legal. To find out more about eligibility, call 207-956-6556 or toll free at 1-800-377-5709.

SPRINGVALE

Grahamtastic Connection, the Maine charity that donates free laptops, iPads and Internet access to seriously ill children, is a finalist in Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good contest.

Grahamtastic will be competing for the most votes on Aug. 17 against four other nonprofits chosen by Toyota. The other contestants are in West Virginia, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Voting takes place on Facebook by search for Toyota 100 Cars for Good, and click on the “vote” tab.
For more information, call 324-0888 ext. 209 or at leslie@grahamtastic.org.

CASCO

Tropical Smoothie Café recently donated $375,000 to Camp Sunshine to support its mission to assist families of children facing life-threatening illnesses. The national chain raised the funds during its Sixth Annual Flip Flop Day, which took place in June at more than 300 Tropical Smoothie Café locations across the country.

The funds will also be used to sponsor families during Camp’s many other sessions throughout the year. The money raised this year brings the total amount donated to Camp Sunshine to more than $1.5 million.

SACO

The Prime Motor Group recently presented a $10,000 check to Sweetser, a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Saco that helps families throughout the state of Maine.
For the past eight years, Prime Motor Group has been the major sponsor of Sweetser’s annual golf tournament. This year, the tournament raised more than $45,000 for the charity.

The company’s close relationship with Sweetser began in 2004, when owner Ira Rosenberg and his wife Judy made a major gift to help Sweetser replace a barn that had burned down on its Saco campus.