Mary Ellen Barnes, executive director of the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission, was elected vice chair of United Way of Mid Coast Maine’s Board of Directors at its annual meeting Thursday, May 23. Barnes has served on United Way’s Basic Needs Solutions Council and on the Executive Committee.

Marica Benner of Waldoboro and Damariscotta Bank & Trust, and the Reverend Josh Fitterling of the First Congregational Church in Wiscasset, were elected to United Way’s board at the meeting. They join Barnes and Christine Anderson, vice president of Patient Care Services at LincolnHealth, on the board. Bill Brillant of Wayfair was elected chair of the board.

Ecumenical Volunteers in the Damariscotta-Newcastle Area received United Way’s Community Builder Award for a group or initiative “going above and beyond in working to build an even stronger, more compassionate Mid Coast Maine community.” Receiving the Award on behalf of the many volunteers and projects were Mariellen Whelan, Sue Rockwood, the Reverend Char Corbett, and Cathy Hopkins.

United Way board chair Joel Wegner praised “this special group of church volunteers who have responded over many years to the needs they saw in their local communities...these volunteers as a group and individually exemplify the spirit of giving back to their local communities.”

Wegner cited the various projects volunteers had launched, including the Ecumenical Food Pantry, a Homelessness Prevention Fund, Stepping Stone for affordable housing, the transportation service FISH, and the Ecumenical Diaper Bank. Of the Diaper Bank, Wegner said, “Several church members learned about the work at our United Way on basic needs and the launch of our Diaper Project. Six area churches came together to embrace this idea, and then built their own local collaboration. Their Diaper Bank started in 2014 with United Way’s initial supply of diapers, and then the local leaders developed their own local resources, both funds and volunteers … What a great collaborative effort among churches and their many volunteers.”

Bath Savings received United Way’s Community Builder Award for a business or organization. United Way Executive Director Barbara Reinertsen thanked the bank for not only contributing $635,000 to hundreds of nonprofit groups across the region served by its branches, but also for the “incredible volunteerism of Bath Savings employees – not just allowed, but encouraged by the bank,” said Reinertsen. “Last year employees provided over 4,000 volunteer hours to nonprofit organizations, both after and during business hours.” Reinertsen cited employee volunteer support for United Way’s community initiatives, including 19 Bath Savings employees volunteering for the Community Read Aloud, eight participating in Fund Distribution panels, and an outpouring of support from employees and customers at all branches in a three-week drive for United Way’s Diaper Project, which generated an incredible 26,000 diapers for families in need.

“Bath Savings is always there for the community. That commitment is deeply embedded in their leadership and culture. United Way is proud to give our Community Builder Award to Bath Savings Institution and Bath Savings Trust.”

Also at the meeting, Wegner thanked United Way’s partner agencies for their excellent work, and noted that through them and United Way’s leadership initiatives, more than 25,000 Mid Coast residents were helped to better lives in 2018.

“In our Strategic Planning last year, we paid increased attention to the importance of human connections,” said Wegner, citing research that loneliness increases the risk not only of depression and anxiety, but also of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. “People need people,” said Wegner. “It sounds so basic. They need caring relationships ... We realized that boosting community connections is very much at the heart of what United Way does, with our mission to mobilize ‘the caring power’ of communities.”

United Way staff member Maria Hinteregger received the Bowdoin College Spirit of Service Award for a “community member who embraces a genuine commitment to improving the lives of others through service, their life speaking strongly, while they remain humbly quiet."

Keynote speaker Joel Merry, Sagadahoc County sheriff, told attendees the meeting he believes “we have the potential to solve much of what is wrong in our society by focusing our efforts on early childhood.”

Sheriff Merry, a member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, as well as of United Way’s board, said he is a longtime advocate of high-quality early child care and universal pre-K. “Kids who succeed in school are much less likely to commit crime,” he said. He also spoke about a mental illness crisis, with close to one in five students saying they had seriously considered suicide in the last year. “It’s critical we let young people know they matter, and are a cherished part of our community,” said Merry.

United Way of Mid Coast Maine’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities. In partnership with thousands of donors, United Way works to improve education, financial stability, and health for people in Brunswick and Harpswell, Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties.