PARIS – Tanya Swain, the Oxford County fund coordinator for the Maine Community Foundation, was the speaker at the Dec. 11 meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Norway-Paris. Swain gave spoke about what the Maine Community Foundation is and how it works.

Swain informed the club that the Maine Community Foundation is a statewide organization founded in 1983 that manages a pool of more than 600 charitable funds with a value of nearly $100 million.

Last year, the foundation gave out $8.6 million in grants and scholarships.

Swain explained that the foundation administers different types of funds. For some of the funds, the foundation not only manages the money, but selects the recipients. For those funds, volunteers serve on committees which make recommendations for the use of the funds. For other funds, the foundation merely manages the money, and the donors identify who the recipients will be.

The foundation has been successful with its investments, even managing to get a positive return in these trying economic times. Club members were impressed with the foundation’s track record and services, and several members had questions about the possibility of the foundation assisting them with funds they are involved with.

The Kiwanis Club of Norway-Paris meets every Thursday at different locations in the Norway/Paris area. The speaker for the Dec. 18 meeting will be member Bill Stockwell. Anyone interested in attending a meeting, contact Bob Bizier at 743-9303 or Sarah Glynn at 743-7753.