Briefs

CAMDEN
Rotary’s fundraiser tops $4,850
West Bay Rotary (WBR) in partnership with United Midcoast Charities recently concluded its “2021 Community Challenge,” raising more than $4,850. The money raised will all be assigned to UMC’s Urgent Needs Grants fund, that supports people in need of food, housing, health and safety, and economic security during challenging times.
“While the pandemic appears to be settling down, the lingering effects are still very real for many people as they continue to struggle to make ends meet and to feed or house their families,” says outgoing WBR President Ken Gardiner, who oversaw the campaign. “We’re delighted with the response to our 2021 Community Challenge and continuing our commitment to service above self that lies at the core of Rotary.”
As with all UMC fundraising campaigns, 100 percent of the money raised goes directly to the agencies with no administrative fees and will provide urgent needs funding of food pantries, homeless shelters, and other basic needs during the COVID crisis.

Winners in high school essay contest named
The Camden Conference has announced the essay contest winners of its annual high school level Bill Taylor Award. Piscataquis Community High School student Taylor Folsom is the first-place winner for her essay related to the 2021 Camden Conference, “The Geopolitics of the Arctic.”
Ryan Young of Brewer High School and Peyton Hadfield of Gould Academy tied for second-place for their essays. Young focused on the impact of Russian climate policy in the Arctic and possible resolution of the conflicts the policy invites. Hadfield shared second place with what the readers called “an original and focused theme on the geostrategic importance of the Arctic in the plans of several governmental powers.”
The Bill Taylor Award was created by its namesake in 2015 to promote student research. Taylor was a longtime Camden Conference supporter with a strong interest in education. The education programs of the Camden Conference are designed to promote knowledge, perspectives, and dialogue opportunities on world affairs with high school and college educators and their students. Several Maine high schools and colleges offer academic courses based on the annual conference topic. Twenty percent of the nearly 1,200 conference attendees are high school and college students who receive Camden Conference scholarship funding to defray their registration cost.

PORTLAND
Submit recipes for food pantry recipe challenge
Sunday marks the deadline to submit recipes for inclusion in the 2021 St. Hildegard Food Pantry Recipe Challenge, benefitting Catholic Charities Maine’s local parish food ministries.
Winning recipes will receive a cash donation to the entrants’ parishes to support the food pantry, soup kitchen, or other food-based ministry connected to the parish. The winners will be announced on Sept. 17, which is the Feast Day of St. Hildegard.
This year’s recipe challenge mimics the Food Network show “Chopped,” with participants creating main or side dish recipes that must include a few pre-selected ingredients to work with. Participants are allowed to add one additional food item to the recipes based on items usually available at a local food pantry.
The theme is “Food Box +1,” meaning that entrants can only use the basic contents of a food pantry food box for a family of four in their recipes: cereal, crackers, powdered milk, canned soup, dried fruit, nuts, chickpeas, beans, instant potatoes, bread, canned vegetables, canned fruit, pork, chicken, beef, whole milk, butter, yogurt, sour cream, in-season fresh vegetables (corn, tomatoes, broccoli, squash, green peppers), and basic fruits.
Recipes will be judged on nutritional value and ease of cooking.
Participants may enter as many recipes as they like to psm@ccmaine.org with “Recipe Contest” in the subject line or mail recipes to: Recipe Contest, Catholic Charities Maine, P.O. Box 10660, Portland, ME 04104.
An electronic version of all of the recipes submitted will be made available for all parish food pantries and soup kitchens to use for those they serve.
For more details, call 523-1161 or visit ccmaine.org/parish-social-ministry.

SACO
Baby bottle drive raises over $7,300
A baby bottle drive sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and parishioners at Good Shepherd Parish has raised over $7,300 for the Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center in Sanford and ABBA in Portland.
The bottles were filled and returned by congregants of Most Holy Trinity Church, Saco; St. Joseph Church, Biddeford; St. Margaret Church, Old Orchard Beach; St. Philip Church, Lyman; and St. Brendan Chapel, Biddeford Pool for donation to local pregnancy resource centers and to help expecting parents.
Funds are still being accepted. For more details, call 205-4271.

SANFORD
Chamber presents memorial scholarships
The Sanford Springvale Chamber of Commerce recently awarded its Faith Ballenger Memorial Scholarship, in the amount of $1,000, to recent graduates Samantha Heber of Sanford High School and Conrad Nicely of Noble High School.
The two students were participated in a two-year Academy of Business program at Sanford Regional Technical Center during their junior and senior years of high school, where they each earned 12 college credits through a dual enrollment opportunity offered through Thomas College.
Heber and Nicely plan to attend Husson University this fall.
Applicants for the scholarship are selected by the chamber scholarship committee with students submitting a mock business plan. Funds for the scholarships are from chamber fundraising events such as the chamber golf tournament and raffle.

WATERVILLE
High schooler wins scholarship
Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce has awarded Zoey Trussel of Waterville with the Joseph B. Ezhaya Memorial Scholarship, recognizing her generosity and dedication to civic engagement.
Trussel was second in her class at Waterville Senior High School. She started volunteering at a young age at Waterville Adult Ed with disabled adults and at Alfond Youth and Community Center distributing meals during COVID.
Trussel assisted the swim team and drama club at Waterville Junior High School. She also worked with the National Honors Society Chapter to organize a voting registration drive to promote civic engagement, along with many other projects.
Trussel plans to attend the University of Maine at Orono to pursue elementary education.
This $750 annual scholarship will be distributed to Trussel upon completion of her first semester with a GPA of 2.0 or higher and will be awarded for up to four years, for a total of $3,000.

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