Franklin County Animal Shelter is a winner

FARMINGTON— It took lots of votes, but efforts made by the staff of the Franklin County Animal Shelter resulted in the shelter being named a winner in the 2010 Community Matters More sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank.

As the top vote-getter in the Western Maine category, the shelter recently received a $5,000 prize.

A portion of the prize was used on staff education, sending a couple to a conference in Massachusetts. It will also purchase a new floor for the second cat room, something the staff has wanted for a long time, Shelter Manager Jo Rumley said Friday.

“The staff made a big press during the last few weeks. They were just out there seeking votes. In one day I had 300 ballots to take to Bangor Savings. We wouldn’t have gotten it without them,” Rumley said.

Starting in mid-January, Maine residents cast nearly 82,000 votes for 1,900 different nonprofit organizations in the Community Matters More Campaign, a unique charitable giving program sponsored by the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation.

The foundation sets aside $100,000 and rather than give to organizations that they choose, they let the people of Maine decide which nonprofits benefit, said Sandra Goodwin, vice president of Farmington’s Bangor Savings Bank.

People can vote for two from eight areas across the state. The ones that get the most in each of the eight areas are given $5,000 while another 60 organizations each receive $1,000, she said.

“The shelter received a lot of votes statewide from people who wanted to help animals,” she said. “It felt good to give them that check.

Acting like the Publishers Clearing House’ Prize Patrol, bank employees went to the shelter with balloons and a large check, she said.

Since 1979, the shelter has provided care and lodging to stray and abandoned animals from 26 communities in the Franklin County area from its Industry Road facility.

There is also space for write-in votes on the ballot, Goodwin said while mentioning past years’ recipients, Washburn Norlands and an organization in Rumford for Abused Women, places where there’s no bank branch nearby.

“It becomes an opportunity for a quick fundraiser as people feel good about being able to help their organization by checking them off on the ballot,” she said.

Five other $1,000 grants were awarded in Western Maine. Those include River Valley Healthy Community Coalition in Rumford; Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, Auburn; Tri-County Mental Health in Lewiston; Skowhegan Free Public Library, Skowhegan; and People Who Care Food Cupboard in Madison.

There were also two write-in winners Chisholm Ski Club in Rumford and Somerset Humane Society in Skowhegan.

The statewide Community Matters More program was a partnership of the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation, WLBZ-TV 2, WCSH-TV 6, WGAN 560 News radio, and Blueberry Broadcasting.

Community Matters More is part of Bangor Savings Bank and the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation’s total commitment of more than a million dollars per year to the community in the form of nonprofit sponsorships, grants and partnership initiatives.

[email protected]

Share this: