Cheers to Thomas Page, Betsy McGrail and Doug Breunig for their combined courage and their motivated swim training for today’s Alcatraz Invitational.

Depending on when you read this, the trio will be preparing, competing or have finished a challenging, 1.25-mile swim in San Francisco Bay.

And they’re doing it to raise money for the YWCA of Central Maine, where they are members. The swimmers’ goal is to raise $10,000, which is a goodly sum to think about as they stroke through the 62-degree water, navigating through 2- to 3-foot waves.

The predicted weather for Saturday there is mostly cloudy with air temperatures of 57 degrees for the start of the race, with winds up to 6 mph.

So, we’re not talking about a frolic in the water on a hot summer day. We’re talking about a real challenge, both physical and mental.

Officially, the three have two hours to finish the event, but they hope to finish in an hour.

Last year, the top male finisher completed the course in 26 minutes, 13 seconds. The top female finisher swam it in 32 minutes, four seconds.

That’s pretty fast, by anyone’s standard.

The Maine contingent won’t beat that speed. They’ll do something more important.

They’ll support their local pool and the work of the YWCA.

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For the past 16 years, Maine has received federal funds through the STOP grant program and, this year, the Department of Public Safety passed out $1 million to community organizers working to stop domestic violence.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the goal of this grant program is to “strengthen local criminal justice system response by drawing on the experience of all players in the system . . . to deal with problems of violent crimes against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault and/or stalking.”

It’s a good program, now funded through the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, but it’s worth noting that women are not the only victims of domestic violence, rape or stalking.

In Maine, community groups receiving the funds work to stop violence against all victims, regardless of gender.

The Lewiston Police Department received nearly $58,000 to fund its Proactive Response Team, a program in which officers check on victims of domestic abuse and plaintiffs who have protection-from-abuse orders to make sure they’re safe in their homes. Safe Voices, which offers education and outreach services to victims in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, received $37,000.

The tri-county area will also benefit from $15,000 awarded to the Domestic Violence Victim Witness Advocate’s Office, which helps guide victims through the court process. Pine Tree Legal received $55,000 to help fund its “Protect Your Space” program, providing legal services for teens and young adults who are victims of sexual or domestic violence.

And, statewide, the Attorney General’s Office received $63,184 for additional training for sexual assault forensic examiners and to assist with staffing the Domestic Violence Homicide Review Panel.

It’s a crying shame that we have to fund these agencies and services to the level that we do, but we applaud the efforts of all those involved in helping victims recover from the trauma and betrayal of sexual and domestic crimes.

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Cheers to the generosity of the Western Maine ATV Riders Club of Wilton and Jay, the Mountain View ATV Club of Mount Vernon, Brettuns Wheelers ATV Club of Livermore and the Canton Trail Riders, four clubs whose members donated $1,000 to their fellow ATV club in Roxbury for trail repair.

These club members often ride together, and it was downright neighborly for fellow clubs to assist the Roxbury group, which is working to repair trail damage from Tropical Storm Irene.

Working together, the clubs have managed to reopen all but a portion of ITS 82 from Roxbury to Rumford and Rumford’s Black Mountain Tower trail.

Should be good riding this weekend, so we hope users appreciate the shared effort.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.