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Category: Community Service
Community Service Committee and information
Fraud Watch- Spotting Fake QR Codes
QR codes are everywhere – from restaurant menus to package tracking. But where there is innovation, there are criminals exploiting them for fraud. QR codes are now being used by scammers to lead you to phishing websites, where they may steal sensitive details like banking info, login credentials and more.
Before acting on a QR code in the real world, check for signs of manipulation (a sticker over the original QR, for example). And you don’t have to use a QR code – if you’re at a restaurant, ask for the printed menu. Also, look at emailed or texted QR codes with suspicion; the point of them is to link you to a website when you’re not otherwise online.
Just like when clicking links, it is important to use caution when scanning QR codes to ensure the source is trustworthy.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.
Five Minutes at Valley Grange
This video was produced as part of our Community Celebration. You can also read the story in the local paper, the Piscataquis Observer.
Fraud Watch- How to Make Yourself a Harder Target
Criminals are always looking for ways to get your personal information to use in criminal activities. The good news is that there are many steps you can take to help protect your data and minimize its value to criminals. Here are three:
Create stronger passwords: Better protect yourself by using strong and unique passwords or passphrases or consider using a password manager to store and generate strong passwords securely.
Use multi-factor authentication: A second layer of defense to your accounts makes it harder for cybercriminals to gain access. Check account settings for two-factor authentication, two-step verification, or multi-factor authentication, and follow the setup instructions.
Keep your operating system updated: Sometimes those updates are to patch a known vulnerability; set yours – and your antivirus protection – to update automatically.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.
Community Service/FHH – May 2025
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193
This is the time of year to start gathering items to display at the local fair. What a great way to show the community what the Grange does. This could lead to canning classes, craft sessions, quilting, plant and gardening care, woodworking, art and photography, soil types, bugs and their contributions to agriculture, and education in general. The projects can be simple or challenging, and the list is endless. The MAAF (Maine Agricultural Association of Fairs) theme this year is “Be A Farmer.” You do not have to use this as your Grange exhibit theme, but you may.
I would like feedback on what Community Service means to your Grange, members and non-members. Please respond by June 30, 2025, to:
Brenda Dyer
MSG Community Service Director
9 Marial Ave
Biddeford, ME 04005
Continue to work on reports and enjoy spring!
Family Health & Hearing
May is Mental Awareness Month. Do something for yourself. Read a book, listen to music, go to the beach, watch a movie, take a walk, go bowling, go to the garden, do a puzzle, etc., which are a few suggestions for having time for YOU. Also, checking on neighbors, volunteering, visiting family and/or friends, etc., can be mentally motivating to others’ mental health.
Fraud Watch- Fake Checks
Checks might seem like something from the past, but scammers often use fake checks in their crimes so they can exploit the time it takes for them to bounce. During that waiting period, scammers will ask you to act on those funds. But once the check bounces, any amount you acted on is gone. This tactic shows up in several scam types from fake job and work-from-home scams (the fake check is to purchase equipment from the “employer” or for you to wire or otherwise send funds to “vendors”), to a seemingly innocent overpayment you received where you’re asked to send part of the money back.
It’s important to know that, just because the check looks like it cleared, it doesn’t mean it has – it can take time for a bank to validate a check, but the federal rules are to make the amount available, usually within 24-48 hours. Use caution when accepting a check: ensure it is validated by your bank and reject seeming overpayments where you’re asked to pay back the overage to the sender.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.
Fraud Watch- Sweepstakes Scams
Who wouldn’t want to win thousands or even millions of dollars, or the chance to go on a luxury vacation? There are many legitimate sweepstakes and contests out there, and the idea of winning some fabulous prize can be mighty alluring. Criminals get that, and they exploit our excitement to score that big check or dream trip.
When a sweepstakes or a contest is fraudulent, there is often a big red flag: you must first pay upfront fees or taxes to get your prize. No legitimate sweepstakes or contest requires upfront payment. Another clue is if you are asked to share sensitive information to receive your prize, such as your Social Security number or bank account information. Again, this is something perpetrators do, not legitimate entities.
If you find yourself reacting to an out-of-the-blue communication with a heightened emotion, and it comes to you with great urgency, let that be an indicator or a fraud attempt. Take an “active pause” – consider what you are being confronted with, what you might know about it, and then react with intention. That moment of deliberation could be what keeps you safe.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.
You’ll Miss Us!
a “webatorial” by MSG Communications Director
Walter Boomsma
Seth Godin wrote an interesting post suggesting that when people move away, cards and cake should read, “You’ll miss us” instead of “We’ll miss you.” He points out that the community remains.
One of the more powerful sentences in the short post was, “When a marketer serves a community, they create the conditions where they’d be missed–because the ideas or products or services they bring are important, not simply tolerated.“
With apologies to Seth, I changed a word or two. “When a Grange serves a community, they create the conditions where they’d be missed–because the ideas or services they bring are important, not simply tolerated.“
My revision raises a question for Granges. Would your communities miss you if you were gone? Would they even notice? Are you important or simply tolerated?
One of the challenges we face as an organization is relevance in communities that are loosely defined and increasingly diverse. If our vision is narrow and our goals are limited, we will be missed by an ever-diminishing number of people. For example, not everyone likes potluck suppers.
Seth’s short message is that marketers should see a worthwhile goal of creating ideas, products, or services that the community would miss.
Maybe it’s time for Granges to figure out what they can create and offer that their communities would miss.
Community Service/FHH – April 2025
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193
There is a revised Community Service Report Form for 2025. Changes were made at the National level, so we have revised our information, requirements, and form. The new information and forms will be mailed to each Grange this month.
We are asking each Grange to fill out the Maine Community Service Summary Report and return it to us by August 31, 2025. This can be part of a detailed report or just the form. We need to receive 25% participation of our Subordinate Granges returning the form to receive some additional funding from National Grange to help with our awards at State Session in October.
Even if you are doing a few small projects, a large project, or not doing Community Service in your area, please return the form anyway. Please note the 3/19/25 revised Community Service Summary form and instruction information about the detailed report is enclosed and can be found on the Maine State Grange website under Program Books and Information Page for Community Service: 2024-25 Community Service Revised Pages. You may request the revised form & information or the completely revised book from State Grange. (The form, instruction information page, and judges sheet are the only changes to the book.)
We must hit that 25% to receive the funding necessary to move forward.
Just a friendly reminder the Community Service Reports or folders are due to the director no later than August 31, 2025! Be sure to include the revised Community Service Summary Report and mail to:
Brenda Dyer
9 Marial Ave
Biddeford, ME 04005
Remember your Nomination for Police – Firefighter/EMT – Educator Of The Year 2024-25. You may nominate one individual for each of these three categories using a separate form for each.
We can’t wait to see what new and exciting things you have been working on this year! Congratulations on your CS work, and thank you so much for your support!
Community Service/FHH – March 2025
By Brenda Dyer, MSG Community Service/FHH Director
(207) 608-9193
Just to update you on the State Community Service Contest. Changes are being made on the State level and will be posted and sent to Granges soon.
One major change will be no notebooks and the report will be limited to 10 (ten) double sided sheets. This is to be a report of your projects answering specific questions about your project(s) – I will get that off to you by next month and mailed to the Granges.
I have included a message from the National Community Service co-directors.
Message from National
The 2025 National Grange Community Service Program is now posted on the National Grange website (nationalgrange.org).
We have found that not all PCs/Laptops/smartphones show the same format but under Community Service, you will find a page with the CS logo describing the 2025 National Grange Community Service Program.
Also included are the National Grange Community Service Report Form and a “Share Your Project’s Story” Form and Program Ideas.
In 2025, the focus of Community Service will not be a contest, but a celebration of good works. As such, there will be no judging on the National level. No notebooks are to be taken to National Convention or sent electronically prior to Convention to the community service email address.
Likewise, “Of the Year” Nominations for Fireman, Teacher and Policeman will not be judged on the National level but can be recognized on the local and State levels.
We encourage each State to receive the Subordinate Grange reports/notebooks and “Of the Year” nominations in the format that best serves your State. The option to judge or don’t judge is yours. As State Director, you have the responsibility to work with your State President and others as necessary to determine what is best for your State and get it communicated to your Subordinate Granges.
The 2025 National Grange Community Service Report Form must be completed by the State Community Service Director or State President and emailed to communityservice@grange.org
In order to receive the monetary $250 award from National, States must meet the required 25% of their total Subordinate Granges submitting reports to the State level.
The Report form must be sent to us in the current calendar year.
Please note that the hours expended for Project Sustenance, the newly launched National Grange Program, is to be included on the CS Report Form. Details for this program can be found on the Project Sustenance page on the National Grange
Any Subordinate Grange can submit a “Share Your Project’s Story” Form.
We know there are changes announced here from what some of you had been told previously and we apologize for any inconvenience. We do trust, however, that you have been making a difference in your communities and now we can finally all move forward together with the 2025 National Grange Community Service Program.
As National Co-Directors, we are committed to helping you be successful. Please contact us at communityservice@grange.org and we will try our best to assist. Best wishes.
Bonnie Mitson & Randee Farmer
NG Community Service Co-Directors