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BRYANT POND — The Bolger Foundation of Ridgewood, N.J. has awarded the University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond a check in the amount of $200,000 for construction of a new four-season classroom building for teen and youth natural resource education. Last fall, the Bolger Foundation challenged the camp to raise matching donations within a year’s time in order to receive the funds. The check arrived in the mail on Monday.

Additional supporters of the project include the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, Larry Stifler and Mary McFadden, the Brook Family Foundation, Grover Gun Drilling Inc., as well as many private individual donors. Bryant Pond has been very successful with new programs and new initiatives in the past year. Our leadership team has decided that it is worth our efforts to build a larger building to meet our capacity needs. Therefore, our efforts to secure additional funding are still underway. The professional architectural design estimate for completing the project is $595,000.

Plans for the new building include: sleeping quarters and bath facilities for 32 teens and/or youth, two classroom spaces, a small kitchen, a seasonal infirmary, a library and a museum quality display of local Maine minerals, geology curriculum materials, and a wildlife collection. The Bryant Pond 4-H Camp & Learning Center’s summer camp, school and community programs currently reach over 4,000 youth participants in spring, summer, and fall programs. This new building will allow programs to operate through all four seasons, and to meet our teen programming needs in the summer and fall.

The mission of Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center is to provide affordable, experiential education and the development of outdoor skills, within a natural setting, for people of all ages and backgrounds. This mission supports the broader mission of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development Program, “to help Maine people improve their lives through education that uses research-based knowledge focused on issues, needs and aspirations.” This is a very exciting time at the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center as we continue to connect Maine young people to their natural heritage. For more information please contact the Bryant Pond office at 665-2068.

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