Dear Friends,
We have so many wonderful things to share this month!
ONE: It is with great pleasure that we announce MaineShare’s new permanent director has been hired! Amanda Langley, MPH, will be joining the MaineShare staff during the week of October 18th. We had an amazingly talented pool of applicants and Amanda’s commitment to social justice, curious mind-set, collaborative nature, and wicked smahts will serve us all well. Amanda will be joining us as soon as she concludes her role as the Community-Based Education Manager for the University of New England, College of Dental Medicine. We thank all of you who applied for the position and participated wholeheartedly in our process. Maine has some incredibly committed and talented people!
THREE: The 2021 Workplace Giving Season is underway and we’ve been having lots of amazing conversations with our workplace coordinators and are very optimistic about meeting our goal of 110% of our 2020 results. Here are a few reasons small, per-pay-period, donations add up and really make a difference:
“MaineShare dollars made all the difference during the difficult days of 2020... [we worked] with the CDC to promote safety and vaccination, offered virtual webinars on COVID-safe funeral practices and food pantry operation, and adapted our four-part advocacy series to an online platform without missing a beat.” - Maine Council of Churches
“With MaineShare contributions, our team built a new and terrific website that is contemporary and aptly represents our organization's work.” - Holocaust & Human Rights Center
"As a small nonprofit with limited fundraising capacity we rely on MaineShare to help raise the funds necessary to do our critical environmental work here in Maine.” - Sierra Club Maine
“...Knowing that there are so many people ... who believe in … our work to protect farmland and support farmers is crucial to a brighter future for Maine’s food and farm systems.” - Maine Farmland Trust
“MaineShare provides our non-profit with a simple but effective way to reach new audiences and receive funds from across the state.” - Bicycle Coalition of Maine
FOUR: If you are interested in participating in our fall workplace giving season, we have all sorts of ways you can engage:
I have so enjoyed my tenure with MaineShare and I’m not going anywhere right away. I’ll be working with our board, member groups, and Amanda behind the scenes to ensure a successful transition and a successful workplace giving season. The next newsletter will come from Amanda!
Gratefully yours,
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Brenda Peluso (she/her/hers), Interim Director
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September & October Events Worth Your Time |
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30+1 years ago - a great thing happened. Get outside, celebrate, and contribute to another 30+1!
Thirty plus one years ago, MaineShare was launched by several individuals and organizations dedicated to funding grassroots organizations who were advocating for a better Maine. On October 21st, we will gather to honor MaineShare's incredible roots and history and celebrate its bright future.
To help ensure this bright future, we are bringing back MaineShare's Annual Hike & Bike event with a goal of raising $5,000. Learn more and get started!
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Ruckus Roundtables - Season 2
Hardy G*rls Healthy Wom*n (HGHW) launches Season 2 of Ruckus Roundtables, starting with Wom*n in Sports on October 19, from 7-8pm via Zoom. This panel features a long-distance dog sledder; the Head Women's Basketball Coach; Nikan'usk (Leaders) Youth Engagement Manager for Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness, and more. It will be facilitated by a member of HGHW’s teen Advisory Board. Tune in to hear about the achievements and challenges of wom*n in sports.
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Community Poetry Reading - Resistance & Resilience
Date: Thursday, October 7th, 2021
Time: 6:30PM
Questions: Contact jan@mainehumanities.org for further details.
POETRY EXPRESS is a collaborative poetry performance program of the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine State Library that brings poetry and poets to Maine communities.
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In October, 2021, Abe Furth of Orono Brewing Company will be riding his mountain bike from Maine to Washington, D.C. in an effort to get bikes into the hands of people who need them most. An avid cyclist and believer in the benefits of bicycling for health, happiness, and transportation, Abe wants to share these benefits with people who wouldn’t otherwise have access.
Abe is partnering with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine to grow and support earn-a-bike opportunities in Maine. Funds raised will go directly to the launch of a new earn-a-bike program in Bangor and continue to support the highly successful “Bikes for All Mainers” program at the Portland Gear Hub.
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Annual Celebration
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10/5, 12-1pm: Community Conversation: The National Popular Vote, Explained. Our guest speaker, Margo Donnis, will explain what the National Popular Vote is, and how it can be put into effect without changing the US Constitution. Register here!
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10/12, 12-1pm: Community Conversation: Wild Seed Project - Rewild in 10 Action Steps. Wild Seed Project recently launched an initiative that motivates people to increase native plant biomass in our landscapes through a holistic approach called rewilding - and anyone can do it. Native plant biomass is critical to the preservation of species and to fight climate change. Anna Fialkoff will walk you through what it means to rewild in 10 action steps. Register here!
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Annual Celebration: November 4th, 6-7:30pm Raise a glass with Sierra Club in celebration of their many successes and take a closer look at Maine’s ocean waters. Learn more.
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The 2021 Summit will be a community-focused conversation on the connections between civic engagement and economic, gender, and racial justice. The event will feature LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and will include workshops, live performance, and local community-level discussions.
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Learnings from our Member Groups |
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Maine’s worker shortage has deep roots |
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As the COVID-19 pandemic slows down in Maine, many business owners are finding it difficult to hire workers. But these concerns are not new — employers have been worried about a shrinking labor force in Maine for at least the past decade.
Despite this being a long-standing concern, some are mistakenly blaming temporary policies such as expansion of unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic. In a recent analysis, the Maine Center for Economic Policy examines what’s really behind the labor shortage and how investments in workers can address worker shortages in a way that allows our economy to continue to grow.
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In addition to protecting farmland, Maine Farmland Trust’s programs strive to help farmers create vibrant, viable businesses and connect more Mainers with Maine-grown foods. Our Farm Fresh Rewards program offers a great way for shoppers paying with SNAP/EBT benefits to stock up on local fruits and veggies during the harvest season. The program helps shoppers get the most bang for their buck, while supporting local farmers at the same time!
Learn more about the program and participating stores here.
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How Member-Led Movement Research Is Guiding Our Work
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Over a year ago, the Southern Maine Workers’ Center set out on an ambitious, uncertain journey: a study of the global political economy. They knew that they had limited time and resources to intervene in the human rights crisis, and they wanted to do it right. SMWC dared to develop a strategy that responds to their particular time, place, and conditions--rather than merely hoping, wishing, or assuming that what they are doing will make the changes we all need. Support from MaineShare made it possible to coordinate, facilitate, and sustain this project.
Over two dozen SMWC members delved into books, articles, databases, conversations with each other, and a member survey to gather information about our world. They summarized their findings in a small, printable booklet to share with their communities (see attached for the printable version and request a physical copy; or see SMWC’s website for the digital version in English and French). Thanks to their community’s generosity, they know their strategies and tactics will lead them ever closer to a world of work with dignity and healthcare as a human right.
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Looking for a fun way to get outdoors and support a MaineShare member? Come join Maine Audubon on Saturday, Oct. 9th at 10AM at our Fields Pond Sanctuary in Holden (Bangor area) for our annual trail running event. This challenging course will take you through beautiful, wooded trails, onto the adjoining Holden Land Trust trail system and down scenic roads for the perfect foliage tour!
To register, click here; For more information, call 989-2591.
Registration Fee: $25 for members, $30 for non-members (includes race t-shirt).
Kids 12 and under are FREE.
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Recent studies have shown that the packaging of many popular processed foods and beverages may contain toxic chemicals that put our health at risk! Defend Our Health partnered with scientists and produced a report titled “Capped With Toxics” detailing the results from testing nearly 300 bottle caps of glass-bottled beverages. The study found that more than one-third of the 141 brands tested contained toxic chemicals known as ortho-phthalates and polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl). Exposure to such toxins can be dangerous for pregnant individuals and children, as these chemicals are known to harm reproductive health and brain development in babies and young children.
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This is just a small sampling of the critical work MaineShare members do to build a better Maine. Please join us in supporting and learning from the great work of ALL our member groups.
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