STAFF MEMBERS of the Chewonki Traveling Natural History Programs show off the new Bath Savings Institution sponsorship vehicle.
Both organizations are longtime supporters of the popular hands-on learning program that travels all over Maine and occasionally beyond.
TNHP director Keith Crowley was thrilled to get the news. “The ongoing support we get from these two organizations is fantastic,” he said in a news release. “Their generosity helps us keep down our costs and helps us reach more students.”
Bath Savings Institution, which has nine branches in coastal Maine, will provide $10,000 in operational support to TNHP. Much of this will go toward sponsoring the diesel Volkswagen Jetta that the instructors use to take their lessons on the road.
“Helping us cover this kind of overhead cost is critical, because we don’t charge schools the true cost of a program,” said Crowley.
The 161-year-old bank has a long history of supporting nonprofits in the communities it serves. It has supported TNHP since 2006, and has even hosted TNHP programs for the public at its Bath and Brunswick branches.
Downeast Audubon, a Maine Audubon chapter serving residents of Hancock County, has supported TNHP since at least 2009, but its ties to the program are much older. In the winter of 1984, when TNHP was nothing more than an idea at Chewonki, wildlife photographer and Downeast Audubon employee Sid Bahrt met with Greg Shute and a few other staff members to help them get TNHP up and running.
This year Downeast Audubon will provide $4,000 — most of it raised by the society’s annual birdathon — for TNHP visits to Hancock County schools. Last year, Chewonki visited 13 different schools in the county.
TNHP reaches more than 25,000 students a year, most of them in Maine. It currently offers 22 programs, ranging from live-animal presentations to sustainability lessons. Each program is geared for 30 or fewer students, involves group participation, and usually lasts about an hour. Limited scholarship funds are available for schools.
For more information, contact Crowley at 207-882-7323 or email kcrowley@chewonki.org.
¦ CHEWONKI’S TRAVELING Natural History Programs reach more than 25,000 students a year, most of them in Maine. It currently offers 22 programs, ranging from live-animal presentations to sustainability lessons.
¦ EACH PROGRAM is geared for 30 or fewer students, involves group participation, and usually lasts about an hour.
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