In this Issue:
  • Krispy Kreme Fundraising
  • Recap of Advocacy Day
  • Annual Statewide Conference
  • Land Trust Day
  • And More!
Leadership Program
Our Leadership Program is starting this month. We are excited that the time has arrived and look forward to sharing with you, member experiences of those that are participating. Look for this in upcoming editions of The Connector!
Advocacy Day Recap
Many of you joined us at the Statehouse on April 2nd for Advocacy Day. Some sat in on the legislative sessions from the gallery, while others took tours of the Statehouse. Many were able to meet with their legislatures personally. This was the beginning of building important relationships. Questions and concerns were shared with legislatures and among SUFU members. We will start the following up on Advocacy Day, so that we can continue building those important relationships. Thank you to Disability Rights Maine for joining us at the Statehouse. A special Thank You to Rose Belanger for the photographs.
Krispy Kreme Fundraiser
Five of our local SUFU chapters completed a Krispy Kreme fundraiser to raise money for the 2019 Annual Statewide Conference. Among these chapters were: Houlton, Presque Isle, Lincoln, Belfast, and Bangor. The members had a very successful fundraiser with selling over 600 dozen donuts and 37 packages of coffee. Members from different chapters were asked how they liked the fundraiser:
Lincoln chapter said, “the fundraiser was very successful, yummy, and cannot wait to do it again.”
Belfast members reported that they "enjoyed doing the fundraiser.”
Presque Isle members stated, “we did better this time, donuts were yummy" and then asked "when are we going to do it again.”
Houlton chapter stated, “it was good.”
Bangor members stated, “this was a good fundraiser.”
The donuts were delivered to the chapter rep committee in Bangor with the members being amazed at how many donuts there were. Some of the comments that could be heard was, “holy cow,” “wow,” “look at all the donuts.”
All chapter members worked very hard to make their fundraiser a success. They would like to thank all the community members, family, staff for their support. Also a big thank you goes out to Cortez. and the Krispy Kreme team members in Auburn, Maine. Their hard work in making our donuts and delivering them to us, helped make this fundraiser a success. We look forward to working with Krispy Kreme in the near future.
Land Trust Day from Laurie Bernier

SUFU is sponsoring our 2nd annual Land Trust Day, June 5, at Langlois Sculpture Garden in Cushing Maine. This is the same location we met at last year. Again volunteers from Georges River Land Trust will have a barbeque lunch spread for us, and THEY wash the dishes! We will have some of the same workshops as last year which included Gardening, Wildlife on the Trail, Orienteering and Leave No Trace Practices. We will also be adding new workshops like Taking Care of Our Environment , Recycling, and What makes a Good Volunteer . Don’t miss out on the scavenger hunt at the beginning of the day there. Other workshops are being added.  It is a great time to get together and meet other SUFU members from around the state . You can also talk with members who are volunteers to see what they like about it. There will be land trust staff attending from other land trusts in Maine too. This is your chance to find out more about local land trusts and how you can be involved in one. Join in the fun! If you have questions, contact Laurie Bernier, 623-3210 or Laurie Coldwell at 730-0474
Registration for this event will be open soon!
Annual Statewide Conference
Our Annual Statewide Conference will be held on September 24-25th at Sugarloaf Mountain Resort in Kingfield Me. We hope you have marked those days on your calendar and plan to join us. In addition we are accepting proposals for workshop sessions. This years theme is "Building Healthy Communities, One Relationship at a Time " Workshops can be focused on any topic from services, finances, health, wellness, legal, hobbies, enrichment, physical activity, mindfulness, and more. If you would like to submit a proposal for a workshop you can download our application on our website by going here or by emailing Laurie Coldwell at lcoldwell@sufuamaine.org Applications are due by June 15th.
These workshops are a vital part of our conference where we can be in smaller groups and learn skills that will improve our lives. In turn we can share those learned skills with those around us.

Our Blog
Have you been to the Speaking Up For Us Blog lately? There is so much excitement there, we can not fit it in this space. There are great contributions from personal stories, a news story about advocacy day, important potential legislation and more. If you have something you would like to contribute to the blog please contact Laurie Coldwell at lcoldwell@sufumaine.org
Have an Idea for Something to be in the May Issue of
The Connector? Contact: Laurie Coldwell 956-1004
lcoldwell@sufumaine.org
SUFU CONNECTOR
Speaking Up For Us of Maine
207-956-1004
www.sufumaine.org