Dear Friends,

We are fast approaching MaineShare Workplace Giving season!  Last year, we raised over $309,000 in pledges in our workplace giving campaign, which supports the growth and sustainability of the amazing work of our member groups!  This year, our aim is even higher, as we add additional giving options to our campaign.  Giving to MaineShare allows you to support your community in a way that is values-aligned and creates sustainable impact.

Workplace giving offers payroll deductions and other donation options to support a coalition of grassroots and justice-focused nonprofits in maine. If your employer offers workplace giving, look out for MaineShare information this fall, and if your employer doesn’t, tell them about MaineShare! To learn more, click here to fill out a quick form indicating interest in a workplace giving campaign.

MaineShare also offers giving options that you can take with you, even if you leave or are not connected to a participating workplace. As MaineShare grows our support of the justice ecosystem in the state, we welcome all to give as you are able on a one-time or recurring basis. Sign up using this link!

Read on to learn about news and events from our member groups, and check out our newest member spotlight on the great work of Maine Farmland Trust!

With excitement and gratitude,

Support MaineShare and our members!

'29 Mainers' Exhibit with Holocaust and Human Rights Center

The 29 Mainers exhibit was created by Portrait Photographer Erin Moore, owner of Mercy Street Studio. Named Maine's 2018 Portrait Photographer of the Year, Erin's photographic style is modern and fun with the goal of capturing the inner spirit and beauty of each person she photographs. Erin is passionate about using her camera to show people how beautiful they are. Moore says the 29 Mainers project was birthed out of the desire to add Black faces to the world of fine art portraiture. She is married to Jermaine Moore, founder of The Mars Hill Group that offers DEI trainings and programs to businesses and organizations. As the wife of a Black man and mother of an adopted Ethiopian son and three biological biracial children, Erin's inspiration for 29 Mainers came in part from her personal life and recognition that Black and Brown people are vastly underrepresented in the fine arts. Learn more here!

Celebrate fall, foliage and food with the Viles Arboretum!

Join Viles Arboretum for a hearty meal as you travel our beautiful grounds during peak fall foliage! Enjoy good food and good company while supporting the Arboretum in one of our largest fundraising events of the year. Learn more, and explore other events at Viles, here!

Volunteer your way through the state at Maine Audubon wildlife sanctuaries!

September and October are the perfect time to get outdoors and explore Maine Audubon’s properties and help prepare these locations for the winter and the wildlife who call these natural spaces home. You’ll discover all kinds of wildlife habitat - marshes, woods, fields, beaches, wetlands, and more.

Whether you are looking for a family project or a unique team building activity for work colleagues, this is a great way to spend quality time together and make a positive impact.

Maine Audubon has a full calendar of days for trail clean-ups, cutting and pulling invasive species, beach clean-ups, memorial garden maintenance, cleaning bird boxes, and assignments for volunteers of all abilities and interests. 

For more details on dates, locations, and jobs to be done, visit:

https://maineaudubon.org/news/mec-category/volunteer-day/ Pre-registration is required.  Please leave your pets at home as their presence can be disruptive to wildlife!

CAHC provides the health insurance help you need!

Consumers for Affordable Health Care is committed to helping Mainers access the heath care they need. Our Helpline Advocates can screen you or someone you know for MaineCare, Marketplace plans, Hospital Free Care, prescription assistance, and employer plan affordability. We can help you complete a MaineCare application or renewal or complete a Marketplace application and choose a plan. We can also help you with billing errors and denied claims.

MaineCare renewals are now required in order to maintain benefits. Be sure to open and read all communications from DHHS. Open Enrollment for 2024 plans begins November 1st. Call us for an enrollment appointment today. Even if you have employer coverage, your dependents may qualify for coverage at www.CoverME.gov or MaineCare! We are here to help! 1-800-965-7476

Explore the beauty of fall in Maine with NRCM!

Late summer and early fall are the perfect times to get out to enjoy Maine’s natural beauty. NRCM is here to help you find great locations for hiking, biking, birding, paddling, and more! Visit our website at www.nrcm.org/our-maine/explore-maine to download or request your copy of our 2023 Explore Maine newsletter, which focuses on Maine’s amazing trails this year. You can also visit NRCM’s Explore Maine Map with more than 200 public land locations in all 16 Maine counties, including locations that are accessible to all. Explore your local area or plan a trip to visit a new place in another part of the state. Happy exploring!

14th Annual Engaging with Vietnam: Living With Heritage Conference

The Maine Chapter of Veterans for Peace and Peace Action Maine provided funding for Maine VFP Chapter president Doug Rawlings to speak at a conference in Hue, Vietnam in early August.  He read his poems and was a member of a panel discussing the G.I. resistance to the Vietnam War as part of the 14th annual conference on Vietnam's cultural history.  After his presentation, Rawlings joined RENEW president Chuck Searcy for a journey up and down the Ho Chi Minh trail. They completed their journey with a visit to the VFP Friendship Village, a campus for victims of Agent Orange and their families. If interested in learning more about the work of Project RENEW and the Friendship Village, contact Doug Rawlings at rawlings@maine.edu.

Maine Council of Churches participates in ceremony when LD1619 signed into law

As part of Maine Council of Churches ongoing commitment to advocating for reproductive justice, including access to abortion care, they supported passage of LD 1619 recently. Executive Director Rev. Jane Field spoke at the ceremony when Governor Mills signed this bill into law.

Stated Rev. Fields, “We do not believe anyone should be forced by the government to remain pregnant against the medical advice of their doctor—and with the signing of LD 1619 into law, that won’t be happening here in Maine. We are grateful to Governor Mills and to all the legislators who voted for this bill. Thanks to their leadership and courage, Mainers will no longer be forced to travel to some faraway state to receive medically necessary care from a doctor they don’t know at a time when they are suffering unimaginable loss and heartache. At times like that, we don’t believe anyone deserves the judgment, stigma, and shame some religious groups hurl at them. Absolutely not. What we at the Maine Council of Churches believe our faith compels us to offer them is simply this: our compassion, our support, our respect.” Watch the whole video here.

Help Build a new shelter in Aroostook County

The Central Aroostook Humane Society has needed a new shelter for years. The current shelter, located at 24 Cross Street in Presque Isle, is not structurally sound. Fortunately, the humane society received three large donations that were willed to the society expressly to build a new shelter.

The new shelter is projected to cost over $800,000, with the three donations covering about two-thirds of the cost. Now the Central Aroostook Humane Society must raise an additional $200,000.

Maine Animal Coalition has created a GoFundMe page to help raise money to fill the gap. The board of Maine Animal Coalition, led by Beth Gallie, believes that raising funds to build the shelter is an important project due to the role the shelter plays in Aroostook County. The shelter serves over 28 communities in Aroostook County and annually takes in and finds new homes for approximately 500 cats and 200 dogs.

Maine Women's Lobby 2023 Legislative Report

The Maine Women's Lobby Education Fund seeks to build better systems for all Mainers who experience sexism and misogyny in Maine, especially women and girls, trans and nonbinary Mainers, and LGBQ+ Mainers. Every year, our legislative report highlights bills we supported, bills we opposed, and bills we proudly led. In our report, for each bill, we share what it does, why it matters, and where it stands now - as well as how each Legislator voted. Check it out here!

Inaugural MECEP Policy Insights Talk

The inaugural MECEP Policy Insights Talk will feature a conversation with Chris Smalls, the founder and president of the Amazon Labor Union, an independent, democratic, worker-led labor union at Amazon in Staten Island and the founder of The Congress of Essential Workers, a nationwide collective of essential workers and allies fighting for better working conditions, better wages, and a better world. At a FREE in-person event at 6pm on Wednesday, September 20 at USM in Portland, attendees will hear about the importance of worker power, the experience of organizing Amazon, and what can be done at the state level to support labor organizers. The conversation will be moderated by Taifa Smith Butler, president of Demos and former president & CEO of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. FMI: mecep.org/events

Volunteer At MOFGA's Common Ground Country Fair!

Sign up now for 2023 Common Ground Country Fair volunteer shifts, available September 22-24. Over 2,000 volunteers make the Fair possible, with roles across areas from parking to the Common Kitchen to the manure toss. Sign up for your favorite Fair area or try something new. Volunteers receive a free Fair T-shirt, free admission on the day of their shift, a meal in the Common Kitchen and a free night of camping.

 Support MaineShare and our members!