WEST FALMOUTH

TD Bank raises $28,000 to fight breast cancer

The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer effort in Maine recently received a $28,000 donation from TD Bank’s Passionately Pink campaign to support awareness and a cure for breast cancer.

TD Bank employees collect donations throughout the year, and the money is split between three breast cancer-fighting organizations. Donations are collected through bake sales, pink hair extensions, food truck days and a basketball free throw competition.

The West Falmouth branch held the One TD Walk and encouraged staff to donate and walk the route during lunch hour. Local American Cancer Society staff joined the event to share the life-saving mission of the organization.

This year’s donation was the largest single-year gift from TD Bank in the past three years. Since the partnership began in 2015, the American Cancer Society has received more than $72,000 from the Passionately Pink campaign and $30,000 from corporate sponsorship across Maine.

SANFORD

SIS Bank donates $2,500 for Sanford ice skating rink

SIS Bank recently donated $2,500 to the City of Sanford for the development of Sanford’s first public ice skating rink. The donation also served as a kickoff for Sanford’s 250th anniversary celebration.

The ice skating rink is set up in downtown’s Central Park.

During an event on Feb. 27 marking the rink’s opening, Mayor Thomas P. Cote read a proclamation, which was followed by a fireworks show and hot chocolate.

BRUNSWICK

Association seeks entries for preservation awards

The Brunswick Downtown Association is seeking nominations for its 2018 Downtown Preservation Awards, which are presented annually in recognition of people and organizations that have created value in the community through renovation or restoration of existing buildings or through new construction that restores and enhances the streetscape.

Retail, residential and institutional buildings are eligible for consideration, as well as infrastructure improvements. Projects completed in the past 10 years are eligible.

The awards will be presented on April 26 at the association’s Speaker Series spring event. Nominations for the Downtown Preservation Awards are due on April 6.

For more details, call 729-4439 or visit www.brunswickdowntown.org.

SACO

United Way grant benefits York County families, kids

Sweetser has been awarded a one-year $15,000 grant from United Way of York County to support underinsured and uninsured children and their families in York County.

“We are appreciative of the United Way and its donors because the funding provided helps us connect children and families with the mental health services they need and deserve,” Sweetser President Debra Taylor said. “This support helps create more promising futures for those in York County.”

Thornton Academy earns top honors at WorldQuest

The World Affairs Council of Maine has announced that the Thornton Academy team, Sagarmatha, was the top high school team at WorldQuest 2018 and will represent Maine at the nationals in Washington, D.C., this spring.

Teammates Vincent Falardeau, Monika Kaczorowska, Ethan Nadeau and Connor Northway, coached by Mike Nelson and Tom Rackmales, competed against 17 other school teams in the global-knowledge competition.

Hosted by the Council on International Educational Exchange, 185 competitors had to answer questions in six categories – geography, climate change, cybersecurity, Saudi Arabia, America’s diplomats and current events.

Lake Region’s team, Big Nut, comprised of Liam Opie, Lucas Perham, Harry Lee and Brian Lee, coached by Scott Nye, were runners-up for the high school teams. The top corporate/teacher team as well as the overall first place team was the Council on International Educational Exchange, with Unum as corporate/teacher team runner-up.

The World Affairs Council of Maine is a nonprofit public-membership organization dedicated to bringing international issues into focus.

WELLS

Student-athletes honored for citizenship, academics

Wells High School students Megan Schneider and Madison Szczygiel were selected as 2017-18 Good Citizenship Award recipients of the Western Maine Conference.

According to principal Eileen Sheehy, they were chosen as student-athletes who exemplify leadership, citizenship, strong academics and athletic ability.

Szczygiel was noted as a natural leader in class and on the field. She is an active community volunteer and has received numerous academic accolades. Szczygiel has been captain of the girls’ soccer team and a record-setting participant on the indoor and outdoor track teams. She was president of the senior class, manager of the hockey team and an officer on both the student council and Fems in Stem.

Schneider was noted as a well-rounded student and athlete who is committed to the school’s sports program and government. She is president of the student council, co- president of the National Honor Society and captain of the volleyball and lacrosse teams. Teachers and coaches appreciate her intelligence and strong work ethic. She has earned numerous academic and athletic achievement awards, and she volunteers with children.

Schneider and Szczygiel will be honored by the Western Maine Conference at the organization’s banquet, held at the Italian Heritage Center in Portland.

Broadcast media class livestreams school events

Several Wells High School students in the Introduction to Broadcast Media class have been volunteering their time to livestream many of their school’s sporting and non-sporting events over the internet.

This provides those at home or living away from the area an opportunity to view the events in real time. It also provides students a real-world, hands-on experience producing live, unrehearsed television.

Team members streamed the last at-home basketball game between the Wells Warriors and the York Wildcats on Feb. 8, providing complete game coverage and play-by-play commentary using a video camera, two mics, and a sound mixer connected to the Wells-Ogunquit district’s computer network, where it was encoded with livestreaming software and uploaded to YouTube.

Other programs produced by the media team and their classmates include the 2017 high school graduation, Warrior football games, school wrestling matches, athletic awards, sports promotions, teacher interviews and a flu-prevention video. Several of their productions can still be viewed on their YouTube space, the WHS Media Team Channel.

Breakfast of Champions recognizes little achievers

Wells Elementary School recently honored 61 first-grade through fourth-grade students at a Breakfast of Champions event for demonstrating the school’s core values of honesty, responsibility, respect and compassion.

Following the breakfast, the honorees received a certificate of recognition and a special sticker to wear throughout the school day.

Those honored were Owen Avery, Kevin Bolduc, Jacy Brown, Willliam Burke, Madelyn Campbell, Juliette Carbonneau, Ella Caron, London Chadwick, Emily Chick, Luke Chrimes, Zoe Coleman, Alivia Collin, Isla Collins, Amelia Connor, Ben Copleman, Joshua Corbett, Arianna Cote, Thomas Cote, Lilly Desmarais, Mia DeMauro, Livia DiDomenicantonio, Adriana Ducharme, Isabella Fagle, Payton Fazzina, Hazel Graffam, Ben Gross, Lily Hamilton, Hayden Hludik, Andrew Hubacz, Devan Jones, Trevor Knight, Maddox Koh, Scarlett Lantz, Helen Lee, Amelia Lucas, Evelina Lucas, Matti Mattuchio, Elliott Meggs, Megyn Mertens, Cal Moody, Caleb Moody, Carter Moody, Camden Mosher, Grayson Mosher, Ashley Morrell, Mila Mustacka, Joseph Nawfel, Kaelyn Newman, Jacob Ouellet, Lincoln Polacke, Jackson Pollard, Bohdan Reeck, Jasper Roy, Jacoby Ryder, Gauge Shepard, Ariella Springer, Colin Vaillancourt, Lexi Webb, Arlo Worcester, Hailey Worthing and Nicole Yandell.

PORTLAND

TruChoice gives more than $10,000 to two hospitals

TruChoice Federal Credit Union has donated $2,483 to the McAuley Residence at Mercy Hospital and $7,722 to the Children’s Miracle Network at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.

The donations are part of the credit union’s TruHero program, where TruChoice VISA card users may select one of two charities to support.

Rotary offers archery bows for veterans’ sports training

The Portland Rotary Club recently presented Pineland Farm’s Veteran Adaptive Sports and Training program with three archery bows to help support alternative rehabilitation for disabled veterans.

Contributions generated from the Rotary club’s third annual Veterans’ Appreciation Luncheon held on Veterans Day helped fund the purchase.

The bows will be used in the target archery program, one of 16 activities offered at Pineland Farms for veterans. The Veteran Adaptive Sports and Training program aims to improve well-being through year-round recreation.

AUBURN

VIP Tires customers in three states give to Make-A-Wish

VIP Tires & Service is donating $55,658 to Make-A-Wish from funds raised during its 10th annual Season of Wishes campaign in December.

During the holidays, VIP customers donated $27,829 at 56 participating stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, with the franchise matching that amount.

Maine VIP stores raised the most ($20,252.80), followed by New Hampshire stores ($6,022.81) and Massachusetts stores ($1,553.45). The funds raised in each state benefit local Make-A-Wish chapters. In the past 10 years, VIP has raised more than $405,000 for the foundation.

WATERVILLE

Program focuses on how faith, equality intersect

Colby College’s Center for Small Town Jewish Life will host the third installment in its Community Conversations series from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Beth Israel Congregation, at 291 Main St.

The program will feature Amy Walter, national editor of the Cook Political Report, and Steven Jacobson, vice president for strategy at the Dorot Foundation and director of the Dorot Fellowship in Israel. They will give the talk “Faith and Equality: How do we get along when our personal faith and societal conceptions of equality and justice diverge?”

This event is free and open to the public.

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