Category: Community Service

Community Service Committee and information

Mental Health Support Resources

Reprinted in part with permission from an e-newsletter published by Senator Stacy Guerin

Anyone affected by the violence in Lewiston is encouraged to reach out and connect with behavioral health support. Incidents of mass violence can lead to a range of emotional reactions, including anxiety, fear, anger, despair and a sense of helplessness that may begin immediately or in the days or weeks following the event.

Seek help immediately if you or someone you know is talking about suicide, feelings of hopelessness or unbearable pain, or about being a burden to others.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.

For those in need of immediate support:

Call or text 988: This suicide and behavioral health crisis hotline is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week by trained crisis specialists offering free, confidential support for anyone. Specialists also can respond by chat at 988lifeline.org. (Veterans and their families can press “1” for specific assistance.) Information for the deaf and hard of hearing is available here.

Teens and young adults can text (207) 515-8398: The National Alliance on Mental Illness Teen Text Line connects youth with other youth to help them manage their challenges every day from noon to 10 p.m. (Note this is NOT a crisis line. If the situation is critical, use the Crisis Line. Simply text “home” or “hello” to 741 741.)

Clinicians, educators and first responders can call (800) 769-9819: The FrontLine WarmLine offers free support services to help these professionals manage the stress of responding to disasters from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

If you’re unsure, contact 211. It provides general information, including how to access behavioral health and social service resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Information can also be found at 211maine.org.

All of these resources provide free, confidential support.

The State of Maine has created a dedicated webpage with these and other resources, including online support and resources for children and families.

Important Note!

Communications Director’s Note: *As many of you know, I teach in the Addiction Counseling Program at Beal University, offer Suicide Prevention Workshops, and am a NAMI certified mental health first aid responder. I am not familiar with the “National Alliance on Mental Illness Teen Text Line, but would strongly recommend The Crisis Text Line. Simply text “home” to 741741. (Actually any word will do!) It is data-driven and has an excellent track record. Please share this post freely–especially on Social Media, Grange Pages and Websites! The links below make it quite easy. If I can be of assistance, please contact me!

Valley Grange Gives Words and More!

Third graders at Brownville Elementary School received lots of words recently in the form of brand-new dictionaries from Valley Grange. The students learned a little bit about Valley Grange, farming, and agriculture, not to mention how to use a dictionary. Since there is a lot more than words in their books, we even said “Hello” to each other using sign language.

Mr. Boomsma demonstrates the use of the shepherd’s hook.
Students really get into their dictionaries.
Getting ready for a dictionary race–whowill find the word first?
Is that hand going up or down?
The welcome mat is out!

Valley Grange #144 is located in Guilford, Maine.

The Dictionary Project is designed to aid third-grade teachers with their goal of seeing all their students leave at the end of the year as good writers, active readers, and creative thinkers. The dictionary is for the student to keep, take it into the fourth grade, and use it throughout his or her entire school career. “The kids become really engaged,” Valley Grange Program Director “Mr. Boomsma” notes. “I think they like the idea that people in the community care about them and, as we explain, they own the dictionary and all the words in it.”

“We also get to talk about the staves as farmer’s tools and how the Grange uses them as reminders of the qualities we should strive for in our classrooms and communities.”

The Valley Grange Program extends across four districts and five schools. This is our 24th year and we’ve given out close to 4,000 dictionaries since starting the program. Additional Dictionary Days are being scheduled at SeDoMoCha Elementary in Dover Foxcroft, PCES in Guilford, Harmony Elementary, and Ridgeview Elementary in Dexter.

Community Service Contest Winners

Gleaned from the Annual Report

Community Service Notebook Contest Winners
First Place: Highland Lake Grange #87
Second Place: Maple Grove #148
Third Place: Jonesboro Grange #357
Tied for Fourth Place: Valley Grange #144 and Saco Grange #53
Of 84 Subordinate Granges, ten reports were submitted. We are required to have a 25% participation rate to receive monetary support from the National Grange. We did not make it this year.

There were no entries for EMT/Firefighter/Educator of the Year and no entries for Granger of the Year. Previous Grangers of the Year included:
2017 – 2018 Victoria Huff
2018 – 2019 Ann Burns
2019 – 2020 Walter Boomsma
2020 – 2021 Rebekah Hodgson
2021 – 2022 John Cox Jr.

Family Health and Hearing Contest Winner
Highland Lake Grange #87

Parkman Grange Kicks Off Santa Project

Santa Project Helps MSAD 4 Families in Need

The Parkman Grange is again helping out Santa to make Christmas special for MSAD 4 area kids with the Santa Project.  This program provides warm winter coats, boots, and a toy to local kids, from newborns to high school seniors whose families could use a little help this holiday season.  Applications can be picked up at the following town offices: Abbot, Cambridge, Guilford, Parkman, and Sangerville and at the Parkman Grange on the porch. They are also available through the schools.  The application deadline is November 11, 2023. Distribution will be on Sunday, December 17, 2023, from 10 AM to noon. The Parkman Grange is located at the corner of State Hwy 150 and North Dexter Road. 

 If you would like to help out, donation checks can be made out to Parkman Grange, memo line Santa Project, and sent to PO Box 114, Guilford, ME 04443.

Save the date: December 9, 2023, from 1-3 p.m. Parkman Grange hosts a kids’ Christmas party. Santa will be there with simple crafts to make for gifts. There will be cookies, cocoa, and lots of fun for all!

Additional information is available from Sue Manchester, Parkman Grange Master, at 207 717-6248.

Kennebec Valley Grange Take-Home Lunch

Annual Carroll Dean Memorial Agricultural Scholarship Fundraiser

October 28, 2023, 12 – 2 p.m. at the Kennebec Valley Grange, 560 Main Street, Madison, Maine, during their weekly flea market.

The menu includes Pit ham, baked beans, mac and cheese, and a variety of other casseroles, apple crisp, or pumpkin pie for $10.00. We will also have our regular pints and quarts of baked beans or dynamites for sale to go. For information, contact Diane Pinkham at 207-314-5135.

Valley Grange Is Going Nuts and Having Fun!

Valley Grange is located in Guilford, Maine.

Bangor Saving Bank has announced its annual Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive, encouraging folks to “go nuts and have fun! Valley Grangers have no problem with going nuts and having fun. In fact, we plan to support it!

In short, we’ll collect jars of peanut butter and jelly to contribute to the drive. As Bangor Savings explains, “Peanut butter, a protein-rich food item, is too often in short supply and high demand at local food insecurity programs. And what’s a more classic pair than peanut butter and jelly? Something as simple as donating a jar can make a big difference to a neighbor in need. And with school back in session, we can support our local schools and backpack programs by donating a jar of peanut butter or jelly!”

You can, of course, drop off your donations at any bank branch. For our part, we’ll have a collection box on the porch of the Valley Grange Hall (172 Guilford Center Road, corner of Butter Street). This worked well during last year’s “Sock it to us” collection. We’re also asking Grange Members to collect. We’ll complete the collection at our September 15th meeting and deliver what we’ve collected to the Dover Foxcroft Branch before the September 30th deadline.

Last year, we had a boxful! Will we need a bigger box this year?

Bangor Savings will be matching donations–for every jar received, one additional jar will be donated to local food insecurity programs. It’s a “two-fer!”

We have a few ideas for going nuts and having fun, so stay tuned!

Webmaster’s note: Since this is a statewide effort, perhaps some other Granges will consider “going nuts and having fun” by supporting it!

Judi Olson Receives Jefferson’s Spirit of America Award

Submitted by Laurie McBurnie, Willow Grange

Willow Grange No. 366 President Ed Worthley presents Jefferson’s Spirit of America Award to Judi Olson on Thursday, July 27. (Paula Roberts photo, used with permission.)

Judi Olson, of Jefferson was honored with the Spirit of America Award on Thursday, July 27 at Willow Grange in Jefferson. Members of the public joined Grange members for a potluck supper and program to honor Olson on her much-deserved award.

Olson heads up the Jefferson Blessings in a Backpack chapter. She started the weekend meals project at Jefferson Village School in 2011 and has managed the program for the past 12 years. Over the years, her family members have helped with the program. When she first started the program, she had lots of volunteers, but now it is pretty much a one-woman show.

Olson fundraises, purchases food, bags it up, and delivers it to the school. The school puts the food in children’s backpacks in their lockers.

During the 2022-2023 school year, she delivered 37 bags of food a week to the school. The previous school year was her biggest, with 47 children served.

Her food bags contain two breakfast items, like cereal or granola bars, and two entrees, such as soup, canned spaghetti, mac and cheese, canned chicken, tuna or ham, peanut butter, or Vienna sausage. She also includes a couple of snacks like fresh or canned fruit, applesauce, crackers and cheese or peanut butter, and snack bars.

Olson keeps her inventory in a room in her basement. She has accounts at Walmart and Sam’s Club. All the money she raises goes into the Jefferson Village School Blessings in a Backpack account at the two businesses.

“It is quite convenient,” she said.

She raises $3,500 annually for the Blessings in a Backpack program at JVS.

During the program, Worthy Master Ed Worthley presented Olson with a plaque noting her award. Lecturer Paula Roberts gave her $238 raised from a  pie auction, lecturer’s march receipts, and donations.

The Blessings in a Backpack program is a nationwide project that feeds children throughout the United States. The program started in 2005, and there are now 1,000 programs throughout the United States. Since 2009, Blessings in a Backpack has grown from feeding 9,022 to 89,579 kids a year.

Olson said the most rewarding part of Blessings in a Backpack is feeding hungry children.

“When they go back to school on Monday, their brains will be working, and they will do well in school and go on to college and get a nice job,” Olson said.

Parkman Grange Scholarships Awarded

The Parkman Grange awarded four MSAD#4-area college students Minnie Welts Bridge Scholarships of $500 each for the 2023-24 school year. Winners this year were: Matthew Chadbourne, Sangerville, a Social Work major at the University of Southern Maine; Mercy Harper, Sangerville, a Criminal Justice major at Husson University; MacKenzie Kain, Parkman, an Early Childhood Education major at Kennebec Valley Community College; and, Merrilee Levensailor, Guilford, an Accounting major at the University of Maine Augusta. Awards were made at the ninth Minnie Welts Bridge Memorial Supper on Saturday, August 12th, where approximately 40 diners enjoyed smoked pork loin, potatoes, and a variety of salads and desserts. With these four, Parkman Grange has awarded $15,000 in scholarships.

2023 Minnie Welts Bridge Scholarship Winners Matthew Chadbourne and Mercy Harper with Parkman Grange Master Sue Manchester. MacKenzie Kain and Merrilee Levensailor also received Scholarships but were unable to be present.

Maine Referendum Questions Offer Granges an Opportunity!

By Walter Boomsma
MSG Communications Director

Listed below are the eight referendum questions Maine voters will be asked to address in November. I’m providing them with several ideas and suggestions–not necessarily that you and your Grange take a position, but can you offer programming that could be helpful to voters? Starting with members, could your Grange (lecturers and legislative committees note) devote a meeting or program to exploring (discussing) one or more of these questions? Or (community service and legislative committees note), could your Grange offer a public discussion opportunity–or a panel discussion? With three months remaining, you have some time to put something together!

Just remember the rules of friendly discussion/debate and that the Grange is non-partisan!

QUESTION 1: An Act to Require Voter Approval of Certain Borrowing by Government-controlled Entities and Utilities and to Provide Voters More Information Regarding That Borrowing. Do you want to bar some quasi-governmental entities and all consumer-owned electric utilities from taking on more than $1 billion in debt unless they get statewide voter approval?

QUESTION 2: An Act to Prohibit Campaign Spending by Foreign Governments and Promote an Anticorruption Amendment to the United States Constitution. Do you want to ban foreign governments and entities that they own, control, or influence from making campaign contributions or financing communications for or against candidates or ballot questions?

QUESTION 3: An Act to Create the Pine Tree Power Company, a Nonprofit, Customer-owned Utility. Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?

QUESTION 4: An Act Regarding Automotive Right to Repair. Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities?

QUESTION 5: RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine Regarding the Timing of Judicial Review of the Determination of the Validity of Written Petitions. Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to change the time period for judicial review of the validity of written petitions from within 100 days from the date of filing to within 100 business days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State, with an exception for petitions filed within 30 calendar days before or after a general election?

QUESTION 6: RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Require All Provisions in the Constitution to Be Included in the Official Printing. Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to require that all of the provisions of the Constitution be included in the official printed copies of the Constitution prepared by the Secretary of State?

QUESTION 7: RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Align the Proceedings for Circulating Written Petitions for People’s Vetoes and Direct Initiatives with Federal Law. Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision requiring a circulator of a citizen’s initiative or people’s veto petition to be a resident of Maine and a registered voter in Maine, requirements that have been ruled unconstitutional in federal court?

QUESTION 8: RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Allow Persons Under Guardianship for Mental Illness to Be Electors. Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision prohibiting a person under guardianship for reasons of mental illness from voting for Governor, Senators and Representatives, which the United States District Court for the District of Maine found violates the United States Constitution and federal law?

Valley Grange Thanks MHFCU!

Twice a month, the employees from each of the six offices of Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union dress casually for “Caring for Community.” Each employee pays $3 for the privilege of wearing jeans and a Caring for Community Shirt. The total funds collected on these dress casual days benefit a local non-profit organization. Valley Grange of Guilford was recently named the recipient of those funds. Thank you, Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union Employees, for supporting our programs! Members and friends of the Grange, please say “thanks” when you visit one of the MHFCU offices!