For More Information Contact: Scott K Fish, Communications & Marketing sfish@seacoastmission.org or 207-458-7185
Maine Seacoast Mission Establishes Covid-19 Vaccination Clinics on Maine Islands
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME – Continuing its century long tradition of bridging the health care gap among the island communities it serves, Maine Seacoast Mission is providing island Covid-19 vaccination clinics starting the week of February 22. Medical and support staff, led by Mission Island Health Services Director Sharon Daley, will travel primarily aboard the Mission’s 74-foot boat, Sunbeam.
“Everything I’m doing seems to be Covid related, and it’s been a real rollercoaster ride for the last week,” said Sharon Daley. “Thanks to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and MDI Hospital, I have an initial 150 vaccines to take out.
“Island Outreach Director Douglas Cornman has been working seven days and nights a week registering people,” Sharon continued. “We have to have an accurate count for each island. And we have to figure out rotation of the islands so we’re not ending up short of vaccines or with vaccines left over.
“I have a couple of great nurses who are going with me. I can’t wait to go on the boat and start doing this,” she said.
The Mount Desert Island based Mission is working in partnership with island residents, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, county officials, Mount Desert Island Hospital, and Pen Bay Medical Center.
The Mission is planning to support vaccination clinics on these islands: Swans, Great Cranberry, Islesford, Matinicus, Frenchboro, Monhegan, and Isle au Haut. Daley, Cornman, and Sunbeam Captain Michael Johnson are scheduling vaccination trips, remembering that the Moderna vaccine requires a second dose approximately 28 days after the first.
The Mission island vaccine clinics are expected to continue for months, and held in various community buildings on the islands.
The Mission boat and crew are well-prepared for this assignment. The first Sunbeam trip after the boat’s recent refit was to conduct flu clinics under Covid restrictions. The Sunbeam is equipped with health facilities including a medical grade refrigerator.
“We have been anticipating this opportunity to serve since the first vaccine was announced last fall. In many ways, the Mission has been preparing for this moment for over a century,” said Mission President John Zavodny.”
Since 1905, the Maine Seacoast Mission has supported communities in some of Maine’s most isolated villages and islands. The Mission connects people to each other, to education, to food, and to wellness.
After studying Richard Rorty’s philosophies, John Zavodny shifted his career from university professor to president of the Maine Seacoast Mission. In this episode, John describes the work the mission does, how members of Down East Maine communities are impacted and how you can help.
John also talks about the importance of relationships to the work the Maine Seacoast mission does. From teaching quietism to community conversation, learn how to build meaningful relationships in your community in this episode.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — It’s a moonlit and chilly December dark evening in Maine. Around four-thirty. There’s a heavy dusting of snow on the frozen ground. You’re in your wood fire warmed Downeast home wondering whether the ground is finally frozen so that now the snow will pile up until the February thaw.
You’re also wondering whether the five-cord woodpile will last until May when the last fire is lit. Since 2020, heading into an uncertain 2021, you are also always wondering, at least a little bit, about your kids, your job, your health… When the doorbell rings.
Of course, a world-wide pandemic won’t permit in-person and door-to-door caroling for Christmas 2020, but, in the spirit of the season, as it should be, we can share in some virtual singing. Click the video above, follow the bouncing Sunbeam, and sing along!
I’ve always thought the traditional version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” is wholly outside the spirit of Christmas. Too demanding: “Bring us some figgy pudding and bring it right here.” Too threatening: “We won’t go until we get some!” And just what is figgy pudding anyway? I guess I can imagine, though I’d rather not.
Instead, we offer “We Wish You a Mission Christmas” recast in the Mission and Christmas spirit. Instead of demanding dried fruit treats, we ask every day how we can help. What can we bring to your table? What joys, small or large, can the Maine Seacoast Mission offer to buoy you and our communities? This Christmas of all Christmases.
This Christmas, I am grateful that the Mission has been able to play such a crucial role during the worldwide pandemic. I am grateful to the communities and individuals who welcome us. I am grateful to the people of every faith tradition for keeping their faith in this season and every season. I am grateful to the donors who support the work. I am so grateful to the Mission staff and board who
just keep going…
Most of all, I am grateful to you who have welcomed the Mission into your lives and hearts this Christmas. This year. Every year. So grateful.
Merry Christmas,
John Zavodny
President, Maine Seacoast Mission
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We Wish You a Mission Christmas and a Healthy New Year
Sung to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
We wish you a Mission Christmas. We wish you a Mission Christmas.
We wish you a Mission Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
Good tidings we bring – white paper, red string.
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We bring you Jillian’s cookies.
Baked in the Sunbeam Galley.
They’re from your Mission family.
With a cup of good cheer!
We bring you a full cupboard.
We bring you Sunday supper.
We bring you hand-knit mittens.
And the gift of good cheer!
Good tidings we bring – white paper, red string. Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We bring you seniors thriving.
We bring you children smiling.
And young adults inspiring.
Their families and peers!
Mission Magic we bring, white paper, red string. Mission Magic for Christmas and a Healthy New Year!
We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Maine Seacoast Mission’s new Downeast Director Melvin D. Adams III, Ed.D.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2020
For More Information:
Contact: Scott K Fish, Maine Seacoast Mission Communications and Marketing sfish@seacoastmission.org or 207-458-7185
Melvin D. Adams III, Ed.D Joins Mission as New Downeast Director
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — His background, professional preparation, heart, and commitment to the people and communities of Downeast Maine earned Melvin D. Adams III, Ed.D the position of Maine Seacoast Mission’s new Downeast Director.
Mission President John Zavodny, after thorough review of several highly qualified Downeast Director candidates, said, “Mel’s background and professional preparation touches on all aspects of the Mission’s work in Downeast Maine: education, youth development, food security, community building and multi-generational family engagement. But it was really his heart and obvious commitment to the Downeast Maine people and communities that made Mel the clear choice,” Zavodny said.
“Service is a clear theme throughout Mel’s life,” he continued. “From his recent graduate certification in Human Resources Management, to community engagement and service learning leadership, and food security work in Columbus Ohio – Mel’s commitment to community is one of many things that recommended him as the next leader of the Maine Seacoast Mission’s Downeast efforts,” Zavodny said.
Previously, Mel Adams served as Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Services at Washington County Community College, overseeing 16 employees as senior enrollment manager and student advocate. He was a member of the WCCC President’s executive leadership team, fostering cooperation and communication with college and community stakeholders to meet WCCC’s mission, strategic plan, enrollment goals, and student success. Mel Adams was also Adjunct Faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University, teaching several courses in Higher Education Administration.
This is a new position at the Mission, created in part in response to changes in eastern Hancock and Washington counties. This region, where the Mission’s DEC programs and services focus, is home to independent, industrious, and entrepreneurial communities whose economic wellbeing is tied to the fishing, blueberry, and tourism industries. Changes in those industries present a renewed opportunity for the Mission to lead in the areas of youth development and college readiness, family resources, food security, and community building.
A growing community of Latinx families brings an influx of talent, creativity, and growing opportunities for collaboration. A long history of strong area partnerships with local school districts, other agencies, and families creates a unique opportunity to make a significant difference in these beautiful, rugged, and resilient coastal Maine communities.
As Maine Seacoast Mission’s Downeast Director, Mel Adams is responsible for key Mission programs based out of the Mission’s Downeast Campus in Cherryfield: EdGE; Family Engagement; Student Pathways, Family Food Center, Housing Rehabilitation, and other Downeast Campus (DEC) programs.
Adams will be responsible for the DEC staff; facilities and maintenance; budgeting and budget management; and coordination of administrative activities with central Mission administration functions including finance, development, technology, planning, assessment, and human resources.
Mel Adams said of his new position, “The Maine Seacoast Mission Downeast Campus has built strong partnerships and trust with individuals and families. It is through the tireless work of the Downeast Campus team that community members trust the work that occurs in our schools and communities. I am humbled and excited at the opportunity to join the Mission Downeast Campus where the work is grounded in strength, dignity, and compassion for our families, friends, and neighbors.
“I am thrilled to work alongside a talented team dedicated to Washington and eastern Hancock counties,” Adams continued. “I am called to this work of service, helping people where they are; with what they have; and celebrating gifts they bring to our communities,” he said.
Adams’s higher education degrees include a Doctor of Education, a Master of Arts in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education, Bachelor of Science in Education – Secondary Social Science Education, and an Associate of Arts.
“It is easy to see how the Maine Seacoast Mission and the people of Downeast Maine will be better off with Mel as part of our community,” said President Zavodny.
NOTE: This is an edited version of the Curtis and Patricia Blake Foundation’s full press release.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susan Blake Email: sbphoebe1090@gmail.com — Tel.: (415) 250-2129
Curtis and Patricia Blake Foundation makes final gifts to five organizations in Maine and Florida. The late Friendly Ice Cream founder’s posthumous generosity is extended to groups in communities he loved.
(Northeast Harbor, ME and Hobe Sound, FL, November 16, 2020) – Trustees of the Curtis and Patricia Blake Foundation have announced that four Mount Desert Island (Maine) nonprofits, and one Florida-based organization, are the five recipients of the family foundation’s final gifts, as part of the Blake’s estate plan, in recognition of those groups’ contributions to communities that mattered deeply to the family. Lifelong New Englander Curtis Blake was the legendary co-founder, with his brother Prestley, of Friendly Ice Cream 85 years ago this year.
The Land and Garden Preserve (Mount Desert Island); the Maine Seacoast Mission; the Mount Desert Nursing Association; the Northeast Harbor (ME) Neighborhood House; and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Martin County (FL) are the beneficiaries of gifts totaling $575,000.
Explained Curtis’s daughter and gift administrator Susan Blake, “The Blake family had many happy times on the Island of Mount Desert in the summertime and in Hobe Sound, Florida during the winter months. These final gifts represent an opportunity to give back once more to those communities, and to the year-round residents and groups who make those communities such special places.
Leaders of the organizations expressed their gratitude.
John Zavodny, President of Maine Seacoast Mission, noted that the timing of the gift, just as the organization’s social-outreach vessel, Sunbeam, is heading back into service to the islands of downeast Maine, is meaningful; the Blakes were honorary chairs of the 2018 campaign that supported the ship’s extensive refit. This gift was given in honor of longtime Blake family friend Scott McFarland.
Curtis Blake died in 2019 at the age of 102. His wife Patricia had predeceased him in 2018.
Summed up Susan Blake, “Although my father achieved great wealth during his life, his family was of modest means. He and his brother started Friendly Ice Cream in the middle of the Great Depression, another devastating time for our country. Dad’s success truly was built one five-cent ice cream cone at a time. Just as the people of Springfield, Massachusetts helped the Blake brothers to build their business, these gifts are intended to assist those doing much-needed work for the betterment of all.”
