CAMDEN — The Camden Rotary Club has awarded grant awards totaling $40,000 to 11 local nonprofit organizations.

The Penobscot Bay YMCA received $7,000 to help support the continued operations of its childcare centers. Access to affordable, high-quality childcare enables parents to maintain steady employment while ensuring their children receive enriching social, emotional, and educational development opportunities.

A $7,000 grant went to MCH Meals on Wheels to support services, including delivering hot, nutritious meals to individuals unable to leave their homes.

The Camden Area Nursing Association received a $7,000 grant to provide subsidized or free nursing to people regardless of their ability to pay.

Homeworthy (formerly the Knox Country Homeless Coalition) received a grant of $3,500 to help support young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and help them find a path to education and employment.

The recently formed Midcoast Regional Housing Trust, which addresses the lack of median-income workforce housing in Knox County, received $3,500. The money will support MCRHT’s efforts to launch its first housing development project.

The Wayfinder Schools will devote its $3,500 award to educational programs for disadvantaged youth. Nearly 100% of Wayfinder students live below the federal poverty level, more than 30% are teen parents, more than 50% have faced food and housing insecurity, and all have struggled in traditional school settings. 

Peopleplace, the cooperative preschool serving Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville, and Rockland, received a grant of $2,500 to provide affordable childcare for low-income families.

Four other organizations received smaller grants of $1,500 each:

Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers will use its grant to provide closed bereavement support groups for families and friends feeling the loss of a loved one.

The Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership will support 12 Landing Place youth in an outdoor learning program.

The Knox Clinic will apply its grant toward the cost of essential clinical supplies and equipment for its dental services.

Midcoast Recreation Center’s Tennis for Fun will provide free tennis instruction for athletes with special needs.

The Camden Rotary Club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It has distributed nearly $300,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations in Knox County and Lincolnville since 2017 and awarded nearly $525,000 since 2010 in scholarships for post-secondary education and training. It also provides weekly volunteers for to deliver MCH Meals on Wheels to homebound individuals and presents free July 4 Music by the Sea concerts annually.

Visitors are welcome to attend the club's meetings at noon on Tuesdays, either in person at the First Congregational Church in Camden or via Zoom. Details are available at www.camdenrotary.org.