Expanding the Androscoggin County Fund will build a charitable legacy

A great many observers have commented recently on how much Androscoggin County has changed in positive, vibrant ways. And they are right. For example:

• In recent years, local residents are buying fresh spinach and zucchini grown in community gardens through a partnership between Sisters of Charity Health System and the Lots to Gardens program;

• Local artists are showing their work in the Turner Center for the Arts;

• An exercise trail was built next to a rural school, a project planned jointly by the Maine state troopers serving that town and the school guidance counselors;

• And a new log splitter has allowed an association working with handicapped adults to continue to provide employment for their clients;

Over the past decade, the towns and cities of Androscoggin County have worked hard and very successfully to encourage economic development, increase affordable housing, expand educational opportunities for youth and adults and welcome new members into our communities.

There are dozens of energized nonprofits dedicated to the well-being of Androscoggin County, yet they sometimes need extra help. This is where the Maine Community Foundation steps in, and why we – the Androscoggin County Committee – have worked with MaineCF staff to create the Androscoggin County Fund to benefit county residents with its own charitable endowment, which supported each of the projects described above.

Established at MaineCF in 1999 with generous gifts from the Androscoggin Bank and other local businesses and individuals, this fund is a permanent charitable resource for organizations across the county. Since its first year of grantmaking, the Androscoggin County Fund has awarded in excess of $200,000 to more than 40 qualifying organizations across the county. These grants – often modest at $1,000 to $7,500 each – have supported a wide array of programs: the Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, a video on college financial aid at Lewiston High School, an after-school program at the Trinity Jubilee Center, the Maine People’s Alliance efforts on area housing, and Franco-American Heritage Center programming.

Last spring, the members of the Androscoggin County Committee decided the time had come to make a more significant investment in our county. Thanks to a challenge grant from The Betterment Fund, we have set out to raise $100,000 for the Androscoggin County Fund between now and October 2008.

The Betterment Fund will add $50,000 to the fund upon successful completion of the campaign, allowing us to significantly increase and permanently endow our twice-yearly grantmaking in our communities.

To meet this goal, we challenge our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers – and you – to contribute to this campaign to increase charitable resources for the county we call home. If we are to become what we envision as a community, we must all make our own commitment to the future of the towns and cities in Androscoggin County.

Those of us who serve on the Androscoggin County Committee are from various backgrounds – we come from Lewiston and Auburn, but also Turner, Minot and Livermore Falls. We represent a wide array of professions, values and commitments. We are sharing in this commitment, and we invite you to join us.

MaineCF’s vision for vibrant communities in our county has grown in strength and numbers. Now, it is time to create our legacy by supporting the future of Androscoggin County.

Bill Hiss is chair of the Androscoggin County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation and a 25-year resident of Minot. For more information about the Androscoggin County Fund, visit www.mainecf.org or call 353-0600.