PORTLAND
Biddeford man recipient of Dibner writing fellowship
The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance has named Biddeford resident Gregory Letellier as the recipient of the spring 2014 Martin Dibner Memorial Fellowship for Maine Writers.
Letellier will attend the MWPA’s 2015 Black Fly Writers Retreat in Grand Lake Stream and work with award-winning author Sarah Braunstein in the fiction workshop.
Letellier is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, book reviewer and teacher.
He is the author of the e-book “Paper Heart,” and his poems, essays and stories have been featured in many periodicals, including “Entropy,” “The Bicycle Review,” “Extract(s),” “Cheap Pop Lit,” “Ray’s Road Review,” and on “The Flexible Persona Podcast.”
The Martin Dibner Memorial Fellowship for Maine Writers is funded by the Maine Community Foundation and administered by the MWPA. Dibner Fellowships provide full funding to attend the Black Fly retreat in May, the Fall Writing Retreat in November, and various workshops throughout the year.
For more details, go to mainewriters.org, email director@mainewriters.org or call 228-8264.
Donation to boost clubs’ STEM programming
U.S. Cellular has donated $25,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine’s Portland Clubhouse for science, technology, engineering and math programming. The gift is part of U.S. Cellular’s $1.25 million national commitment to Boys & Girls Clubs of America and National 4-H Council.
The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine serves more than 500 youths each day at the clubs.
For more details, go to www.bgcmaine.org.
GARDINER
Food co-op gets $90,000 grant to create new jobs
The Gardiner Food Co-op & Café has been awarded a $90,000 Community Development Block Grant to create new jobs with the opening of its storefront in late May.
The community-owned grocery and café will connect producers and consumers by providing access to local, organic, fair-trade and bulk foods for all income levels.
The café space will be available for community events and as a place for food education.
For more details, go to www.GardinerFood.Coop.
BIDDEFORD
Rotary Club announces essay contest winners
The Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club announced the winners of its 20th Annual Student Essay Contest for Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach eighth-graders.
First-place winners include Olivia Whittaker of Biddeford Middle School; Jake Lamontagne of Thornton Academy Middle School in Saco; Ashley Salguero-Gonzalez of Saco Middle School; Amber Rennie of Loranger Middle School in Old Orchard Beach; and Aine Mahony of St. James School in Biddeford.
Entries were based on this year’s contest theme: “What the Word ‘Family’ Means to Me.”
Their essays were selected by school faculty based on relevance to the topic, quality of composition, creativity, and grammatical and spelling accuracy.
Each was invited to read his or her essay before an assembly of Rotarians, parents, school principals and teachers. Each was awarded a certificate of achievement along with a $100 cash prize.
Other prize winners included Addison Moore and Brittany Harlow, Biddeford Middle School; Zoe Johnson and Morgan LeBlanc, Thornton Academy Middle School; Preetica Sharma and Willem King, Saco Middle School; Celina Ouellette and Haylee Hinkle, Loranger Middle School; and Yuriy Reiter and Allyson Fournier, St. James School. Those students received prizes ranging from $25 to $50.
Biddeford tech center picks this month’s honorees
Biddeford Regional Center of Technology has named Alex Cole and Emily Ribaudo Students of the Month.
Cole is enrolled in the school’s auto body program and was selected from the technology programs. Ribaudo is enrolled in the early childhood education program and was selected from the business, education and health careers programs.
The Bank of Maine provided monetary awards to these students.
Also nominated were MacKenzie Brennan, Quinn Campbell, Adrian Edwards, Charles Goodrum, Jeff Kimball, Zachary Maksut, Jessica Laverierre, Kathryn Letellier, Josh Poirier and Dakota Rynne.
PORTLAND
Fund distributes $98,000 to groups aiding women
The Maine Women’s Fund has awarded grants totaling $98,000 to 11 organizations that are working to build the economic security of Maine women and girls.
Maine Women’s Fund 2014-15 Economic Security Initiative grant recipients are: Elder Abuse Institute of Maine; Girl Scouts of Maine; the Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center; Maine Boys to Men; Maine Women’s Policy Center; Next Step Innovations in Youth Education; ROiL dba Maine Inside Out; SeniorsPlus; Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Services; Wayfinder Schools, and Women Unlimited.
The fund provides funding and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations in Maine within six strategic areas: education; entrepreneurship; health care; leadership; personal safety and public policy.
The 2015 grantees will be recognized at the fund’s annual Leadership Luncheon on May 19 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.
To learn more, go to www.mainewomensfund.org.
Boatbuilding program is top vote-getter in contest
PC Construction joined local nonprofit leaders at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath on April 15 to present three Maine-based nonprofits with donations totaling $15,000 as part of the company’s Building Communities: PC Construction Gives Back contest.
The first-place winner, the Maine Maritime Museum Discovery Boatbuilding Program, received $10,000, with Hospice of Southern Maine and Tedford Housing receiving $3,000 and $2,000 respectively as second- and third-place winners.
PC Construction’s employee-owners nominated 10 nonprofits from the Greater Portland area to participate in the contest. More than 5,200 votes cast by the public determined the top three winners.
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