Coastal Rotary Club of Brunswick - Our Projects

On Saturday May 10, 2008 Brunswick Coastal Rotarians along with the Mid-Coast Maine Master Gardeners spent and enjoyable morning getting the grounds of the Tedford Shelter on Cumberland Street, Brunswick ready for summer. The group weeded, mulched, and installed new plantings and a small stone patio. Rotarians Laurie Weber-Taft, Susan Paluska and Tom Stypinski were teamed with Master Gardeners and friends Joel Leak, Anne Banks, Marsha Hilton Kingdon, Sally Ward, Jennifer Best and Jo Jean Keller. Laurie brought a delicious coffee cake that gave us all the extra energy we needed to see the project through. We all had a good time and learned some gardening tips from the Master Gardeners.

Seventeen BCR members and friends manned the “Popcorn, Cotton Candy, Ice Cream, Pretzels, Soda, And Sno Cones” kiosk at the September 15-16 Great State of Maine Air Show at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. Saturday’s morning rains made for less attendance that day. Sunday’s beautiful weather brought out a record crowd and made for a busy day for club Event Chair Sally LeBlanc and her crew. New skills learned included how to make cotton candy in a 20 knot breeze, balancing the electric loads of our various machines, and salting pre-baked pretzels. Our folks had a lot more fun than those who only came to see the airplanes while raising money to fund our local community and international humanitarian projects.

Brunswick Coastal Rotarians worked with the cooperating organization, Merrymeeting Project, to provide school supplies, clothing and toiletries to local homeless teens to support them staying in and graduating from high school. The Merrymeeting project manager went shopping with the teens to get clothing so they would not feel embarrassed or feel like they ‘stood out’ from other students at school. Rotarians did shopping for backpacks, school supplies, and toiletries. Club members filled the backpacks with the school and toiletry supplies at our Rotary meeting. Two Rotarians presented the filled backpacks to the project manager who will distribute them to needy teens at the project center and/or at the local high schools (Brunswick High School, Mt. Ararat High School, and Morse High School). This project was supported by funding from the Rotary Foundation by District Simplified Grant 59130.

Photo: left to right; Margaret Lonsdale, Bruce Goodman, Meilin Brodeur and Sally Leblanc

The month started off with a visit from District Governor Marie on Novermber 1st. In keeping with Governor Marie's request that clubs do hands-on service rather that giving her a gift, club members brought bags of groceries to the meeting, which were later donated to the Food Pantry at the Midcoast Hunger Prevention Agency. Following up on this theme, club members gathered at the Food Pantry on November 18, to assemble Thanksgiving Day food boxes, that they then distributed to recipients who came to the Agency. At the November 29th meeting the speaker was Terry Howell, director of Midcoast Hunger Prevention, who informed the club about her agency and the rising prevelance of hunger in the Midcoast area.

Brunswick Coastal Rotarians recently completed a gardening project at Gilbert Place, which is a supportive, permanent housing facility in Bath. Tedford, the local homeless shelter fairly recently acquired and completed renovations on the former apartment building and had moved residents into the units. Shelter staff had reported that the lawn of the facility was in desperate need of landscaping and requested assistance. Rotarians and the residents of Gilbert Place worked together to rake, seed and plant grass, perennials and bushes. The lawn now looks terrific and everyone enjoyed a day of fellowship in working together. This project continued an ongoing relationship between Brunswick Coastal Rotary and the Tedford Shelter. The Rotarians have worked on several other projects at the shelter and for the past year and a half have provided one meal per month for residents of the Tedford singles shelter in Brunswick.

The Oasis Health Center is a free clinic staffed by local health care personnel on a volunteer basis and located in Brunswick. This clinic serves uninsured Mid-Coast area adults with household incomes less than 150% of the Federal Poverty guidelines, providing free, quality health care with dignity, confidentiality, respect and equal access to persons of limited means. Our club purchased computer hardware and software for a patient tracking system urgently needed by the clinic. Rotarians set up the system. In March 2006 the nine of the club’s members repainted the clinics reception and main office areas.

The computer system will allow the volunteer healthcare personnel to track patients. The software purchased is specific to this field. The Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) allows the doctor or nurse to access patient information in the treatment room.

This project was supported by funding from the Rotary Foundation by District Simplified Grant 56420.

On November 3, 2005, Mary Ellen Stypinski, acting as a representative of the Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club, was pleased to present Mt. Ararat Junior, Patrick Hyde with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Patrick’s teacher, Joe Furrow, suggested that Patrick would benefit from owning a handheld organizer.

Mt. Ararat High School Teacher, Joe Furrow, Patrick Hyde, Mary Ellen Stypinski, and David Dubreuil

Patrick, who has advanced computer skills, is living with spina bifida and has daily challenges resulting from his disabilities. Furrow proposed that Local Rotarians might help by supplying the device which would enable Patrick with reminders to follow his routine.

Mary Ellen, a substitute teacher at Mt. Ararat, spoke on the behalf of the request to the Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club. The club enthusiastically supported the project.
Mark Costa, past president of the Rotary Club, contacted Mike Murphy of EPRO Engineering & Consulting who offered a Palm M500 Series PDA for Patrick’s use.

Dave Dubreuil, an educational technician who assists Patrick, notes that the tool has enhanced Pat’s school experience. The PDA will serve to improve Patrick Hyde's future.