LEWISTON – The Franco-American Heritage Center has announced that the Maine Expansion Arts Fund and the Maine Community Foundation have awarded a grant of $5,000 to the center.

The money will be used for a Web site upgrade that is essential to building the center’s programming and capital campaign success and to increase revenue and member collaboration through better marketing and office systems.

“This grant will allow us to offer our audience easy access to reserving tickets online, market the events more professionally and make it more convenient for the public all around. It will also allow donors to visit our Web site to see what is happening, make pledges toward the capital campaign online, and keep abreast of the educational and entertainment programs happening here,” said Rita Dube, executive director of the Franco-American Heritage Center.

The organization has grown in the last few years, with events taking place at least five or six times a month. The center needed to bring its ticketing and sales procedures to a new and modern level in order to offer better service and create a more efficient working environment. The grant is what will make that happen.

Program Director Richard Martin said he has been waiting for the Web site upgrade for some time and acknowledges that “it will bring us to a new level in all that we offer.”

The Maine Community Foundation is a statewide organization with offices in Ellsworth and Portland. For more information, visit www.mainecf.org or call toll free 1 877-700-6800. For more information on the Franco-American Heritage Center, visit www.francoamericanheritage.org or call 783-1585.