Aid for Kids receives $5,000 grant

    The Aid for Kids (Degenhardt Foundation) program was among eight non-profits that received $5,000 grants, based on the voting. The other winners included: Emmaus Homeless Shelter; Kennebec Valley Humane Society; Preble Street; Camden-Rockport Animal Rescue League; Seniors Plus “Meals on Wheels”; Open Hands Open Hearts (Saco Food Pantry); and Bangor Humane Society.
    An additional 60 non-profit organizations which also received community members’ votes will receive grants of $1000 each.  This year’s program reached its goal of the highest voter turn-out to date. The final tally, The Foundation reports, was nearly 90,000 votes cast for over 3,000 different community-based, Maine nonprofit organizations.
    The statewide Community Matters More program was a partnership of the Bangor Savings Bank Foundation, WLBZ-TV 2, WCSH-TV 6, WGAN 560 Newsradio, and Blueberry Broadcasting. In addition to the grant money, 48 nonprofits that were nominated before the voting began and were listed on the ballot received substantial exposure about their missions.