PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The Presque Isle Rotary Club has selected which organizations will receive funding from this year’s 63rd annual Rotary Auction, scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
Charities receiving funds include:
• The Francis Malcolm Science Institute: To develop a new Butterfly and Insect Display at the Science Center that will provide children with hands-on activities and models to explore the insect world. The Francis Malcolm Science Institute is a non-profit organization in Easton that serves an average of 6,000 school children each year.
• The Northern Maine Museum of Science: To replace display signage in the recently renovated Folsom Hall on the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus. The museum formally opened in 1996 and is housed on the UMPI campus in Folsom Hall. It provides informal science education and entertainment for county residents and visitors to northern Maine.
• Caring Area Neighbors for Cancer Education and Recover (C.A.N.C.E.R.) is a non-profit organization that provides support to families and individuals dealing with cancer. Their mission is to provide help, support and educational opportunities not otherwise available in Aroostook County.
• Easton School Department: To purchase new playground equipment for the Easton Elementary School. The school is completing work to improve the safety of the equipment and play area and will also add 4 inches of safety surface wood chips.
• Northern Maine Veteran’s Cemetery: To purchase lighting for the Avenue of Flags Display. The cemetery has obtained commitments to purchase 30 casket-sized flags to honor the veteran’s interred at the cemetery. Rotary funds will be used to provide the lighting for the flags.
• Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library: Rotary funds will be used to purchase non-fiction books for the children’s section. The funds will provide approximately 150 new books. The 102-year-old library serves the people of Presque Isle and surrounding communities. Currently there are approximately 4,670 library cards held by the public.
• Aroostook Youth Football: To purchase equipment to outfit the new fifth- and sixth-grader program. This new program will complement the existing grade 7-12 programs and is estimated to serve an additional 30 players. Aroostook Football is a non-profit organization that has been offering tackle football to area youth for seven years. The program currently serves 150 children.
The Club has also selected Catholic Charities of Maine as this year’s “Special Project.” Funds will be used to repair the roofing on the food storage warehouse. Catholic Charities serves 24 food pantries in Aroostook County, impacting 40,000 people annually. They also partner with other agencies to serve as a distribution hub for orders from the Good Shepard Food Bank and USDA Commodities. The building was purchased two years ago and the lumber warehouse was converted to the food storage building.
“This year we had 32 regular auction requests and 12 special project applications,” said Jeff Pangburn, who will co-chair the auction with Joy Barresi Saucier. “All of the requests had merit and we wish we could fund them all. It was a difficult task eliminating any of the applications, but we feel the club has identified a very worthy list of recipient organizations and are confident that the community will rally behind the club to support these worthy causes.”
For over 60 years, the Presque Isle Rotary Club has held an annual auction to raise funds to support various charities and non-profit organizations. Last year, the club raised over $50,000 for various organizations and charitable causes.
Pangburn and Saucier, along with the Presque Isle Rotary Club as a whole, are in full planning mode and looking forward to another exciting auction this year. The club could not successfully complete this enormous task without the support of donors, viewers, listeners and bidders. Anyone who is interested in learning more about Rotary and its ideals can visit www.PresqueIsleRotary.org or contact any Rotary member.
The next step in the planning process is the solicitation of goods and services for the auction from the public.
