5 th Annual Sunbeam Awards Gala Honorees Announced

June 17, 2008

BAR HARBOR—The Maine Sea Coast Mission will hold its fifth annual Sunbeam Awards Gala on August 22 at the Bar Harbor Club. This year the Mission is honoring Charlotte Bordeaux of Bar Harbor and Richard Dimond of Southwest Harbor.

As a child, Mrs. Bordeaux summered here at the home of her grandmother, Bertha Thorne, on Ocean Drive. After she married in 1959, Mrs. Bordeaux moved here as a year-round resident and raised her four children on Cromwell Cove. Three of her children, Peggy, Lynn and Tom, live here year round with their families while her daughter Joan and her family summer here.

Mrs. Bordeaux traces her philosophy of giving to a spiritual journey she began in 1984, for sharing her wealth, she believes, is God’s will. She principally supports charities or organizations that help or serve other human beings. When there is a disaster such as the earthquake in China or the tsunami in Myanmar, she funnels her contributions through organizations like the Red Cross, UNICEF, Care—organizations that are on site and can jump on board to help those in need, she said..

On a more local level, Mrs. Bordeaux has been most active in supporting the Mount Desert Island Drug and Alcohol Abuse Group, the Acadia Family Center, Open Door Recovery, YMCA, YWCA, the Maine Sea Coast Mission and scholarships for island residents to attend the Summer Festival of the Arts.

In a recent interview, Mrs. Bordeaux said that one of the reasons she likes to support groups is that she knows from personal experience how difficult it is to fundraise: “Raising dollars is like pulling teeth. Those who can give often don’t give or don’t give as much as you want them to,” she said. “Raising funds is tedious. But I am always grateful for any gift, and always feel that it is my job to raise funds and to give.”

A former Army physician and researcher, Dr. Dimond has been coming to Maine since 1947, has summered in Southwest Harbor since 1978 and moved here as a year-round resident in 1994 when he retired from the Army. Dr. Dimond is being honored for the pivotal role he played in organizing and ensuring the viability of the Hancock County Deferred Sentencing Project, an initiative of the Mount Desert Island Drug and Alcohol Abuse Group.

In a recent interview, Dr. Dimond stressed that he was just one person among many. With help from others, particularly district attorney Mike Povich and retired Superior Court judge, Paul Pierson, they formed a steering committee, raised money through grants and private contributions to establish the sentencing project in 2004, and maintained it for four years. On July 1, it will become one of 16 state-operated deferred sentencing programs. These are court-ordered substance abuse treatment programs—programs that place drug offenders in the community, not in jails. Selected participants in the program are placed in community-based treatment programs and are monitored closely for at least one year by a multidisciplinary team, including a judge. When Dr. Dimond accepts the Mission’s award, he will do so on behalf of many other volunteers, particularly district attorney Povich and retired Judge Pierson.

Gary A. DeLong, Executive Director of the Maine Sea Coast Mission, stated: ”The Mission is honored to have the opportunity to express our gratitude to these Sunbeam Award honorees. Like those who have gone before them, they have touched the lives of many on the margins of life who are often forgotten. We hope we are giving voice to their gratitude as well – all the women, men, and children who have been given another chance by the generous giving of time, talent, and treasure.”

Previous Sunbeam Award winners include Jill Goldthwait, the late Edward “Fitz” Dixon, Myron “Sonny” Sprague, Ruth and Tris Colket, Alf Wakeman, Connie Greaves Bates, Father Jim Gower, and the late Henry “Nick” Harris.

Fund-raising events such as the Gala, chaired by Stacy Smith with the help of co-chair Shari Roopenian and a committee of 20, allow the Mission to continue its programs to residents of offshore islands and Downeast Maine. With the Sunbeam’s telemedicine facility, residents of Frenchboro, Matinicus, Swans, and Isle au Haut receive high quality health care—care that includes screening clinics for diabetes, cholesterol, prostrate and skin cancer. In the last year over 100 people participated in these clinics and vaccination programs.

Another Mission program, funded by donors and events such as the Gala, include the highly successful EdGE program, an afterschool program serving middle-school students—Addison, Cherryfield, Columbia Falls, Harrington, Milbridge and Steuben, schools in Washington County, one of Maine’s poorest counties. With funding support from a 21 st Century grant, the EdGE is planning to expand in the 2008/2009 school year to the Mountain View, Peninsula, and Jonesport schools as well as expanding programs at Narraguagus High School.

he Gala’s lead sponsor is Bar Harbor Bank and Trust. Many other leading financial institutions and area businesses also serve as sponsors for the Gala. Funds raised will be used to underwrite and expand the Mission’s programs. For more information about purchasing tickets to the Sunbeam Awards Gala, please call Sarah Clemens at 288-5097