Kennebec Savings helps grow Wolfe’s Neck Center programs

Kennebec Savings Bank has made a gift of $25,000 to Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment to support significant enhancements to facilities on 626 acres of preserved coastal land. 

“Wolfe’s Neck Center is an incredibly important organization in the greater Freeport area, providing the public with the rare opportunity to become fully immersed in the world of sustainable farming and the important role it plays in our communities,” said Andrew Silsby, president and CEO of Kennebec Savings Bank. “We’re pleased to be able to support their efforts.”

Wolfe’s Neck Center oversees and operates an educational resource center, oceanfront campground, wooded trails, and several historic buildings. Through regenerative farming, soil health research, and visitor interactions, Wolfe’s Neck Center is used as a public resource with the goal of promoting health and wellness.

Over the next several years, improvements and upgrades will be made to the Farm Discovery Gardens, Organic Dairy Facility, Visitor Center, and Smith Center for Education and Research. 

“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this generous support from Kennebec Savings Bank. This support comes at a critically important time as we are in the midst of a major reinvestment in our programs and facilities to better serve our visitors, program participants, and the farm sector throughout Maine and beyond,” said David Herring, Wolfe’s Neck Center’s executive director. 

Avita donates to Region 10 Technical High School

Officials from Avita of Brunswick, a local assisted living community specializing in memory care, recently presented Region 10 Technical High School’s Certified Nursing Assistance program with five brand new, state-of-the-art privacy curtains for its health occupations lab.

The lab, designed to replicate a working hospital or assisted care unit, is designed to teach Region 10 students program basics in a clinical environment before they work with patients in real clinical settings as a part of their training.

Avita is one of several area health care facilities that serve as a training site for Region 10’s CNA students.

Avita’s Executive Director Gary Currier said, “We are thrilled to be able to support Region 10’s CNA program in this way. We’ve had so many excellent students work with us and for us over the years, and we wanted to contribute to the program with this donation.”

Before Region 10 CNA students are ready to work with real patients, they undergo two months of classroom and lab prep in the fall, learning the Maine State Board of Nursing CNA curriculum and practicing patient care in their lab. According to Region 10’s CNA instructor, Joanne McMahon, “These new curtains help provide a sense of pride in our program and realism in the students’ studies.”

Gary Currier, Avita of Brunswick’s executive director, and Joanne McMahon, Region 10’s CNA Program instructor, at Avita’s donation of new privacy curtains. Mike Smith, Avita’s maintenance director, looks on.

Kennebec Savings Bank donated $25,000 to Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment in Freeport earlier this month. From left are David Herring, executive director of Wolfe’s Neck Center, and Travis Rowell, Bill Hill and Andrew Silsby of Kennebec Savings Bank.