$5,000 grant to Finding Our Voices helps fund two upcoming events
Holding the check, from Finding Our Voices, Mary Kamradt, operations manager; Nicole Larrabee, board treasurer; Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder; and from First National Bank, Chad Place VP, Commercial Lender, Michelle Curtis VP, Community Engagement and Business Development Officer, Amanda Fisher Assistant Branch Manager, and Ashley Simmons Banking Consultant. (Photo by Niki Janczura, Business Development Officer for First National Wealth Management)
Holding the check, from Finding Our Voices, Mary Kamradt, operations manager; Nicole Larrabee, board treasurer; Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder; and from First National Bank, Chad Place VP, Commercial Lender, Michelle Curtis VP, Community Engagement and Business Development Officer, Amanda Fisher Assistant Branch Manager, and Ashley Simmons Banking Consultant. (Photo by Niki Janczura, Business Development Officer for First National Wealth Management)
First National Bank has donated $5,000 to Finding Our Voices, helping the grassroots nonprofit move forward two events that focus on breaking the silence of domestic abuse across Maine.
The grant reflects the lead sponsorship of the group’s second annual “Into the Light!” Fiesta in July in Midcoast Maine as well as the May 9 Eastport stop of their 2024 “Let’s Talk About It” tour.
“Into the Light!” involves 50 Midcoast eateries and other businesses designating yellow items in July with proceeds benefitting Maine’s domestic abuse survivors. The “Let’s Talk About It!” tour is Maine survivors of domestic abuse traveling from town to town to publicly share their stories, then lead a community conversation. Eastport’s event at the Welcome Center is the second of 10 talking and listening stops this year that include the Bangor and Southern Maine community colleges and Biddeford High School.
“We couldn’t be more grateful to our friends at First National Bank,” said Patrisha McLean, founder CEO and Finding Our Voices, in a news releaes, "for solar-powering two of our biggest events getting people talking about domestic abuse, and providing safety and comfort to the far too many women and child victims in our midst.
“This community-minded bank has been a leading light for Finding Our Voices from when we became a nonprofit four years ago, including sponsoring our bookmarks which are scaled down versions of our iconic posters featuring the photo portraits of 45 Maine survivors, sponsoring our posters in Boothbay Harbor, and bringing us to Eastport in 2020,” said McLean.
Finding Our Voices marshals survivor voices to mitigate the financial control, isolation, and stigma that keep Maine women and children trapped in domestic abuse. In addition to its groundbreaking public awareness campaigns, the nonprofit runs weekly online support groups, a pro bono dental program called Finding Our Smiles, and the Get Out Stay Out Fund that in the first three months of 2024 disbursed $35,000.00 to 120 Maine families. For more information visit https://findingourvoices.net
