Thank you to everyone who rallied to “Check in” support for YMCA Camp Huckins!  With your help we raised $500 in funds which will go towards camp scholarships.

For May, our nonprofit in the spotlight is the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restorationproject. As of this moment, the folks in Damariscotta Mills are waiting eagerly for the annual running of the alewives.

Damariscotta Mills is home to the state’s oldest, most productive, and most publicly accessible alewife run. Built by the towns of Nobleboro and Newcastle in 1807, the fish ladder was originally built of local stone packed with clay in an overflow outlet of Damariscotta Lake. The fish ladder may never have been a particularly efficient passageway as it followed the natural lay of the land, which is often steep and narrow. The fish ladder has undergone many repairs and renovations in its long history but none of them has been comprehensive or specifically designed for efficient fish passage until the current effort.

Why Enhance Fish Passage for Alewives?

Annual run of the alewives. Photo courtesy of Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration

Alewives are an important part of the food chain and they contribute to the health of the marine environment and to the lakes and streams where the fish spawn. In the spring, alewives are a critical source of food for wildlife and their young as well as a source of fresh bait for local lobstermen who are setting out gear after a winter ashore. The Towns of Newcastle and Nobleboro have harvested alewives at Damariscotta Mills since the 1700s and, by balancing conservation and economic goals, they have carefully tended the Damariscotta River alewife stocks. However, pressure from offshore fishing and environmental degradation have taken a toll on fish stocks. Today, harvesting is only carried out when a sufficient number of alewives are reaching Damariscotta Lake to spawn. All funds received for harvested alewives are spent to maintain and restore the fish ladder and harvesting area.

Noting the historical, environmental, and economic value of the alewives, the Towns of Nobleboro and Newcastle and the Nobleboro Historical Society, backed by a solid community-based initiative, embarked on an ambitious project to rebuild the fish ladder in 2007. In the ensuing five years, two-thirds of the historic stone structure has been re-built to specifications provided by US Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Ladder Engineer Curtis Orvis and Maine Department of Marine Resources fisheries biologist Gail Whipplehauser. Work to date has been funded by community fundraising events, donations, and grants, including a $92,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

At present, the most deteriorated and least accessible third of the fish ladder has still to be addressed. Creative and innovative methods must be devised to remove the current crumbling pools and rebuild them to the new design specifications. Work to date has cost nearly $600,000 and it is projected that another $350,000 – $400,000 will be needed to complete the restoration.

Even partially complete, the results of the restoration have been impressive. The number of alewives reaching Damariscotta Lake to spawn has nearly doubled and even greater numbers are expected once the restoration is complete.

Time to Check In!

You can help support Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration in restoring this vital fish passage by participating in our Check in for Charity campaign. Fill in your name in the form below to earn $1 towards our $500 fundraising goal for Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration this month.

Check in for Charity returns this April to support Camp Huckins, a summer family camp for girls based on Lake Ossipee in Freedom, New Hampshire.

Since 1928, Camp Huckins has been providing an enriching summer experience for children. They have 1,300 girls ranging in ages 8-16 who come to Camp Huckins for 2 or 4 week sessions each year.

At the end of each summer, Camp Huckins also offers two Family Camps for those who would like to enjoy the camp experience with their children. Camp Huckins is a place with many enduring traditions and enriching activities, a place that people return to year after year, as campers, counselors, program staff and Family Campers. They come back because they are touched by how, year after year, Huckins remains “Constant and True.”

About the Camp

Camp Huckins is located in the town of Freedom, NH on approximately 200 acres. This includes an active waterfront on Ossipee Lake’s Broad Bay with 2800 feet of sandy shoreline and a private island. The cabins and program buildings are scattered amongst the beautiful New Hampshire pine trees.

4 tennis courts, an indoor athletic facility, trails for horseback riding, a large sports field, an outdoor basketball court, archery range, and a recently built outdoor amphitheatre overlooking the Bay are just some of the features that make Camp Huckins special. Other amenities include an open arts & crafts lodge, a ropes course, canoes, sailboats, kayaks, motor boats for waterskiing, as well as a tower, slide and diving board at the waterfront.

Time to Check In!

You can help support Camp Huckins’ mission to provide a sharing and caring atmosphere where each person can grow to realize their full potential through participating in our Check in for Charity campaign. Fill in your name in the form below to earn $1 towards our $500 fundraising goal for Camp Huckins this month.

The York County Shelters atop Shaker Hill in Maine was one of the first homeless shelters in the country to adopt solar energy

Our people-supported nonprofit fundraising program, Check in for Charity, returns this March with a campaign to support the York County Shelter Programs, located atop Shaker Hill in Alfred, Maine. The Shelters service the hungry and homeless throughout York County, with emergency housing, permanent housing, dining commons and apartments in Alfred, Sanford, and other locations in Southern Maine.

In addition to serving hundreds of those in need each year, the Shelter is an environmental leader.

They were the first shelter in Maine to incorporate a suite of renewable technologies: they called upon ReVision Energy to install solar hot water, solar electricity, and a wood boiler for heating at their Vinton Hall in Alfred in 2009.

Further efforts include a commitment to reusing and recycling, composting, energy efficiency, and to educating residents and volunteers about sustainability issues. These efforts earned York County Shelter Programs an Environmental Leadership award from Maine DEP, and the first ever Green Alliance Sustainable Commerce Scholarship.

The Shadow of Hunger

While the need for their programs has never been greater – the number of people relying on the Shelters’ Food Pantry for their food has doubled, and the price of purchasing food has skyrocketed – the Shelter is facing a looming budget gap. The York County Commissioners abruptly cut $31,000 of county funding from the Shelter this year.

The Shelter’s response to this challenge is to reaffirm their core belief – that hunger is unacceptable – by bringing attention to the issues of hunger and economic injustice through a campaign called Mothers and Others Against Hunger.

The Shelter is requesting donations of $50, either in cash or in food, from concerned individuals, restaurants, caterers, farmers, and food-related businesses in Southern Maine and New Hampshire. Those who join the campaign will receive recognition on several websites, Facebook Pages and a local newspaper advertisement to be run in May 2012. More information at the Mothers and Others Against Hunger website: http://www.mothersandothersagainsthunger.org.

The campaign also features a full line-up of events during a “Hunger Awareness Week,” beginning on Mother’s Day, May 13, with a Mother’s Day Dessert and Tea event in Alfred, a talk on hunger, and the Fifth Annual 5k Run/Two Mile Walk for the Homeless and Hungry on Saturday, May 19, held at Mothers Beach in Kennebunk.

Sadly, one in five children in Maine face food insecurity today, and the Shelter is calling upon Mothers – and Others! – to help put this to an end. The Shelter calls up a rich history of Mother’s Day, which historically has been a day to highlight social justice causes, such as Coretta Scott King’s historic 1968 Mother’s Day March to bring attention to women and poverty.

Time to Check In!

You can help support York County Shelters through your participation in our Check in for Charity campaign. Fill in your name below (email is completely optional, and all information you send will NEVER leave ReVision Energy) to earn $1 towards our $500 fundraising goal for the York County Shelters this month.

Fred Greenhalgh of ReVision visited Riding to the Top to meet some of their riders, volunteers, and staff

A big thank you to all our readers for helping raise $6,000 this past year for 12 different nonprofits in Maine and New Hampshire. It was an experiment for us, but we have to say, “Check in for Charity” was a big success!

Here are the nonprofits who each received $500 this year as part of the program:

• January – Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, ME
• February – WERU Community Radio in Blue Hill, ME
• March – Riding to the Top in Windham, ME
• April – NH Coastal Protection Partnership in Portsmouth, NH
• May – Natural Resources Council of Maine in Augusta, ME
• June – Maine Children’s Cancer Program in Portland, ME
• July – Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assocation in Unity, ME
• August – Biodiversity Research Institute in Gorham, ME
• September – NH Audubon in Concord, NH
• October – Island Institute in Rockland, ME
• November – Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH
• December – Guitar Doors in Gorham, ME

Check in for Charity will return in March, 2012 with terms similar to what we did in 2011. We are currently taking nominations for nonprofits, so please send in your choices and stay tuned for details in our March newsletter.

Also, please consider supporting some of the organizations we helped this past year – all are worthy causes doing great work, and the need for giving all across the nonprofit world is great. Thank you for doing your part!

We have had another successful month of Check in Charity, when in October friends of the Island Institute raised $500 worth of “Check ins” for the organization. We’re pleased to support them!

For November we will be raising “Check ins” for the Seacoast Science Center, whose Rye, NH facility helps foster connections to the natural world and inspire a love of science in the young.

Seacoast Science Center

Exploring a saltwater marsh at Odiorne State Park during Seacoast Science Centers “BioBlitz” annual nature-based scavenger hunt.

According to national experts, 80% of the jobs that will be created in the next decade will require math and science skills, yet the next generation of Americans will not be ready. Students show declining interest in science: 84% of middle school students would rather clean their room, eat their vegetables, go to the dentist or take out the garbage than learn math or science.

That’s where the The Seacoast Science Center comes in.  They take a fun and innovative approach to science education, with hands-on, active programs that engage students’ natural curiosity about the world to teach them about more than “just” science. They learn important life skills that translate directly into the skills they will need in the work force. They learn to observe, analyze, communicate and keep asking questions.

The Seacoast Science Center creates connections to nature by offering:

• Educational programs and environmental day camps for children 18 months to 8th grade
•  Adult learning opportunities from Heritage Dinners to expedition travel
• School programs that range from in-the-field to at-school, to after school
• Distance learning and video conferencing at our Gregg Interactive Learning Studio
• 13 aquariums and live animal tanks represent habitats from tide pools and ponds to the deep sea
• Community events geared toward fun and education on the seacoast: Music-by-the-Sea
• Summer concerts, Whale of a 5K Race and Fun Run, Art in Nature week, and dawn-to-dusk Bioblitz!

Each year, over 70,000 people visit the Center, 15,000 of whom are students from throughout New England.

Check in Now!

Just enter your name and email (optional) below to earn $1 towards the Seacoast Science Centers’ innovation and interactive approach to science education.

Fine print: Each person can “Check in” once each month using the widget you can find on our blog, website, and Facebook page. In addition we count all new “Likes” to our Facebook page as Check-ins so be sure to share this effort with your friends!

September was a blazing success for Check in for Charity, with $500 raised in the shortest time ever thanks to supporters of New Hampshire Audubon. We’re thrilled to support their good work and hope to collaborate again in the future.

This October we’re looking off the coast of Maine, to the Island Institute and their fantastic work advocating for Maine’s year-round island communities and their needs, which are deeply entwined with sustainability and preservation of precious natural resources.

Island Institute

Collecting water during a recent water walk with Island Institute. Photo by Leslie Bowman.

The Island Institute is a nonprofit organization that serves as a voice for the balanced future of the islands and waters of the Gulf of Maine. We are guided by an island ethic that recognizes the strength and fragility of Maine’s island communities and the finite nature of the Gulf of Maine ecosystems. Along the Maine Coast, the Island Institute seeks to:

• support the islands’ year-round communities;
• conserve Maine’s island and marine biodiversity for future generations;
• develop model solutions that balance the needs of the coast’s cultural and natural communities;
• provide opportunities for discussion over responsible use of finite resources, and provide information to assist competing interests in arriving at constructive solutions.

Island Institute’s perspective is fundamentally ecological, based on an understanding that all life is intimately linked with its environment; that people are therefore an inextricable part of the ecosystem of the Gulf of Maine; that there is an interdependent web of existence more evident on islands than in other communities and landscapes.

They also recognize that the maritime culture of islands fundamentally depends on the ecological health and productivity of the surrounding marine environment. To imagine Maine and its islands without a productive lobster fishery, for instance, is like viewing the American prairie without the buffalo.

Check in Now!

Just enter your name and email (optional) below to earn $1 towards Island Institute’s work preservation the heritage, culture, and environment of Maine’s islands and coastal communities.

Fine print: Each person can “Check in” once each month using the widget you can find on our blog, website, and Facebook page. In addition we count all new “Likes” to our Facebook page as Check-ins so be sure to share this effort with your friends!

Thanks again to all of our participants in the “Check in for Charity” program, who this past August raised $500 in funds for Biodiversity Research Institute.

For September we’re again supporting a wildlife-oriented nonprofit; this time it’s New Hampshire Audubon, an independent nonprofit offering programs in wildlife conservation, land protection, environmental policy, and environmental education since 1914.

New Hampshire Audubon

Founded in 1914 with an original focus on protecting and restoring migratory bird populations decimated by hunting and collection in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, today’s NH Audubon provides:

Photo from a recent NH Audubon program on the “Changing Environment”

• Environmental education programs throughout the state
• Statewide conservation research and wildlife monitoring
• Protection of nearly 8,000 acres of wildlife habitat in 38 sanctuaries
• Environmental public policy and science-based advocacy

A nonprofit, statewide membership organization independent of the National Audubon Society, NH Audubon operates four centers (in Auburn, Concord, Hebron, and Manchester) and two raptor observatories (in Concord and Peterborough). Their staff includes conservation biologists, educators, land managers, and other talented individuals with accounting, development, personnel, communications, building maintenance, management, and marketing skills.

For maximum effectiveness, NH Audubon staff work collaboratively with other nonprofits, state and federal agencies, municipalities, industry, universities, and landowners. They respect collaborators’ perspectives while advocating for the best possible environmental outcomes.

A great example of their work is the recently released State of Birds report (PDF), which is a follow up to the technical report, “The State of New Hampshire’s Birds,” released in the spring of 2010 by New Hampshire Audubon and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Check in Now!

Just enter your name and email (optional) below to earn $1 towards NH Audubon’s environmental and educational programs.

Nominate Your Cause

Have a nonprofit you think should benefit from our program? Simply use our nominate form and you’ll get them in the running.

Fine print: Each person can “Check in” once each month using the widget you can find on our blog, website, and Facebook page. In addition we count all new “Likes” to our Facebook page as Check-ins so be sure to share this effort with your friends!

This July supporters of MOFGA helped reap a harvest of $500 for the organization by participating in our Check in for Charity program.

We enter August excited to support another worthy organization, this one on the cutting edge of scientific research – Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) based in Gorham, Maine.

While based locally, BRI is routinely involved in 80-100 research programs across the globe, including over a dozen in Maine. Their breakthrough work studying migratory birds and bioaccumulation (the process whereby toxic substances move up the food chain) empowers citizens and decision makers. They lead two research centers – the Center for Mercury Studies and the International Center for Loon Conservation and Research.

Biodiversity Research Institute

Photo of Maine Loon courtesy of Biodiversity Research Institute

A Portland Press Herald article from this past June nicely summed up the excellent work of BRI:

Mercury released by burning coal goes into the atmosphere, then settles on soil and the bottom of bodies of water where bacteria converts it to a toxic form called methylmercury. In that form, it accumulates and gets concentrated as it moves through the food chain.

Loons are ideal bio-indicators of the presence of mercury in the environment because they are large, live up to 30 years and are highly territorial. Testing for the presence of mercury in a blood sample from a loon will show how much toxic mercury is present where the loon lives.

… The institute is one of a few nonprofit independent scientific research organizations in the country with a focus on birds, similar to PRBO Conservation Science in Point Reyes, Calif., and Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Plymouth, Mass., said Rebecca Holberton, a University of Maine associate professor of biology.

“BRI’s work with mercury has added a huge resource,” said Holberton, who is one of the many scientists who collaborate with BRI on migratory bird research.

In addition to this critical bird-centric research, BioDiversity manages a number of outreach programs including wildlife webcams that have reached millions of viewers, presentations and events, eco-tours and a wealth of information on their website.

BRI data has been used to inform discussions on an array of issues including environmental mercury contamination, contaminants in birds, wind power development, loon preservation and management, and much more.

Check in Now!

Just enter your name and email (optional) below to earn $1 towards BRI’s scientific research and outreach programs.

Nominate Your Cause

Have a nonprofit you think should benefit from our program? Simply use our nominate form and you’ll get them in the running.

Fine print: Each person can “Check in” once each month using the widget you can find on our blog, website, and Facebook page. In addition we count all new “Likes” to our Facebook page as Check-ins so be sure to share this effort with your friends!