Quimby Family Foundation supports UMaine’s Outdoor Leadership Program

Quimby Family Foundation supports UMaine’s Outdoor Leadership Program

Students in UMaine’s Outdoor Leadership program test drive new mountain bikes provided through a grant from the Quimby Family Foundation.

The Quimby Family Foundation recently awarded a $15,000 Movement grant to support the purchase of a mountain bike fleet for the University of Maine’s new 4-year Outdoor Leadership program, according to University of Maine Foundation President/CEO Jeffrey Mills.

Hannah Quimby of the Quimby Family Foundation (QFF) announced that the University of Maine Foundation, on behalf of the UMaine Outdoor Leadership program, was selected to receive funding because they share with QFF a vision to grow more meaningful, reciprocal relationships with nature. The Quimby Foundation was inspired by UMaine’s approach to human wholeness and its efforts to foster stronger relationships between people and the woods, and waters of Maine. 

The University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development (COEHD) created the Outdoor Leadership academic program to develop students’ leadership skills, provide intensive training in both contemporary and traditional outdoor activities, and explore the interdisciplinary knowledge-base necessary to be safe and responsible outdoor leaders. The program will prepare students for careers in related businesses, nonprofits, and education. The minor began in January of 2019 and the 4-year program began this fall. 

The grant will provide the program with a mountain bike fleet, and bikes for outreach programs to K-12 students, helmets and maintenance equipment. 

Mountain biking is a key part of the Outdoor Leadership program. The fleet will serve as a “learning lab”. Students will be taught how to develop programs for local K-12 students where they will practice their mountain biking instructional skills and engage more young people in the outdoors. 

“Mountain biking is an important human-powered trail sport that can build individual and community health,” says program leader Lauren Jacobs. “UMaine students will use the equipment to explore how trail building and mountain biking are being used to strengthen communities around Maine. By exposing these future outdoor leaders to various trail systems and teaching them how to instruct and create successful recreation programs, we will be ‘teaching the teachers’ how to get more people recreating in the outdoors.”

The Quimby Family Foundation was formed in 2004 by Roxanne Quimby, an entrepreneur, environmentalist, and philanthropist. The competitive Movement grant funds projects to create and support opportunities for people to consistently choose, and meaningfully experience, nearby nature and wilderness through movement and activity.

Funding from this grant is part of UMaine’s current $200 million Vision for Tomorrow comprehensive campaign, led by the University of Maine Foundation. 

The University of Maine Foundation works to seek private gifts primarily on behalf of the University of Maine.

Give

None of the information on this website should be considered legal or financial advice. We encourage you to consult with your own legal counsel or financial/tax advisor before deciding whether or not to proceed with a gift or change to your estate plan.

Sharing

Share this page via Facebook.
Share this page via Twitter.
Share this page via LinkedIn.
Share

Donors celebrating 55th UMaine Class Reunion to name engineering building

Donors celebrating 55th UMaine Class Reunion to name engineering building

Skowhegan natives E. James “Jim” Ferland and Eileen P. Ferland are the anonymous donors whose $10 million investment will help construct the Engineering Education and Design Center at the University of Maine.

The new facility will be named in honor of the couple.

The announcement was made by University of Maine Foundation president and CEO Jeffery Mills at the UMaine Alumni Association 2019 Reunion dinner Sept. 12 on campus, where Jim Ferland was celebrating his 55th class reunion.

The E. James and Eileen P. Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center (EEDC) will house the Biomedical Engineering Program and Department of Mechanical Engineering, as well as teaching laboratories for mechanical engineering technology, and provide space for all UMaine engineering majors to complete their senior capstone projects.

Read more.

Give

None of the information on this website should be considered legal or financial advice. We encourage you to consult with your own legal counsel or financial/tax advisor before deciding whether or not to proceed with a gift or change to your estate plan.

Sharing

Share this page via Facebook.
Share this page via Twitter.
Share this page via LinkedIn.
Share

Longtime UMaine Employee Gives Back

Longtime UMaine employee gives back

 L-R: Tony and Sue Randall receive their Stillwater Society giving society recognition from UMaine Director of Athletics Ken Ralph.

Long-time friends of UMaine athletics, Susan G. Randall ’89 and Tony Randall, have established the first-ever endowment for UMaine’s field hockey team, benefitting one of the University’s most successful athletic programs for years to come.
 
After working in UMaine’s central administration for 25 years, Sue Randall made the jump to work in the athletic department as an athletic business manager in 1995. Despite thinking she would only be working in athletics for a couple of years, she grew to love working in finance for the department.
 
“When I came down to athletics, I didn’t think I would be staying,” said Sue Randall. “I thought maybe a couple of years. I really loved what I was I doing. I wanted to get more involved with the sports programs. That was an important piece for me.”
 
Sue would be promoted to the role of Assistant Athletic Director for Business, serving in that position until her retirement in 2015. When field hockey head coach Josette Babineau was hired in 2007, Randall was an athletic administrator for field hockey. Working in finance for the athletic department for 20 years, while having a strong relationship with the field hockey program, showed Sue and Tony the need to create an endowment.
 
“We are grateful to Sue and Tony for their generous support of our field hockey program,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development Seth Woodcock. “It is especially humbling to see a gift come from a long-time athletic department employee, who has a firm understanding of the importance of endowment building for our programs.
 
“The Randall’s are true and loyal fans,” Woodcock continued. “It is common to see them at games cheering on our Black Bears. The creation of their endowed fund in support of field hockey is forward thinking, as it is a meaningful gift that will impact one of our most successful programs immediately and well into the future.”
 
The endowment will help the program with operations costs, and donations to the fund will benefit the program for the long-term. Babineau and her lone assistant, associate head coach Michelle Simpson often have to hold clinics and camps on nights and weekends to help offset program costs.

“Our program is so fortunate to have great friends like Sue and Tony,” said Babineau. “They have formed great relationships with our players and their families. Sue and Tony understand the work that goes into creating a great team culture and a competitive program. Their friendship and support enhance our players’ experience in our program. This incredibly generous gift will continue to benefit our program for years to come. Thank you very much to Sue and Tony for their commitment to field hockey and women’s athletics.”
 
The endowed fund will grow with the help of donations. The field hockey team had a very successful season in 2018, finishing with a 16-5 overall record, advancing to the America East Championship game for the second time in the last four seasons. The high-octane Maine offense ranked fifth in the nation in goals per game (3.57 goals per game) and 13th in the country in goals allowed per game (1.38 GAA). Maine was nationally ranked the entire campaign, finishing at No. 19 in the final Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll of the season. 2018 marked the fifth time in the last eight seasons that the Black Bears ended the season nationally ranked.
 
“This is a way to really invest in the future success of field hockey,” continued Randall. “Working with the foundation, the endowment will go a long way with the help of the operations cost with the program. Every little bit counts and will add up.”
 

 

Give

None of the information on this website should be considered legal or financial advice. We encourage you to consult with your own legal counsel or financial/tax advisor before deciding whether or not to proceed with a gift or change to your estate plan.

Sharing

Share this page via Facebook.
Share this page via Twitter.
Share this page via LinkedIn.
Share

Record fundraising and $1 million pledge announced by University of Maine Foundation at annual luncheon

Record fundraising $1 million pledge announced by University of Maine Foundation at annual luncheon


The Wards stand with Dana Humphrey and Foundation President Jeff Mills for a photo

On hand for the announcement of the $1 million pledge for the University of Maine Engineering Education and Design Center are, left to right, College of Engineering Dean Dana Humphrey; donors Debbie Lipscomb and Dr. Denham Ward of Bowdoinham; and University of Maine Foundation President Jeff Mills.

Orono, Maine — Over 230 University of Maine benefactors gathered to celebrate a record-breaking year of fundraising at the annual University of Maine Foundation luncheon on campus Oct. 26 during Homecoming weekend.

Foundation President Jeff Mills announced gifts and pledges totalling $36.9 million for fiscal year 2018. That total is up 115 percent over the previous year and brings the total collected during the current Vision for Tomorrow comprehensive campaign to over $160 million — 80 percent of the campaign goal.

“2017–18 was a tremendous year for fundraising at the University of Maine,” says Mills. “As a result, UMaine’s endowments are now at an all-time high of over $327 million. Private support is providing UMaine students, faculty and staff with crucial resources that enhance their UMaine experience.”

To kick off 2018–19 fundraising, College of Engineering Dean Dana Humphrey announced a $1 million pledge from the Abbagadassett Foundation to support the Engineering Education and Design Center, UMaine’s top capital priority for the Vision for Tomorrow comprehensive campaign.

“We are pleased to invest in this attractive new engineering center which includes significant space for biomedical engineering,” said Debbie Lipscomb, who co-directs the Abbagadassett Foundation in Bowdoinham, Maine with her husband, Dr. Denham Ward ’69. “That program is close to our hearts and we’re excited to be able to support it.”

Ward and Lipscomb have a long affiliation with the University of Maine. Denham, a native of Clinton, Maine, was an Honors College student who graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.D. from the University of Miami in 1977. Ward is an emeritus professor and chair of anesthesiology at the University of Rochester where they were active members of the UMaine Alumni Rochester Chapter.

Lipscomb is a graduate of Occidental College. The couple also supports scholarships for engineering majors in the Honors College.

For more information about giving to the University of Maine, contact the University of Maine Foundation, 207.581.5100.

Give

None of the information on this website should be considered legal or financial advice. We encourage you to consult with your own legal counsel or financial/tax advisor before deciding whether or not to proceed with a gift or change to your estate plan.

Sharing

Share this page via Facebook.
Share this page via Twitter.
Share this page via LinkedIn.
Share

UMaine Alumnus Creates Fund for Maine 4-H Poultry Projects

Poultry fund story photoL to r: Professor Emeritus of Animal, Veterinary and Aquatic Sciences Robert O. Hawes, Frankie Bozzino from Winterport, holding a Cochin Bantam that Bob had given him as a chick and Alice McKinstry Hawes

Dr. Robert O. Hawes and his wife, Alice, recently created an endowed fund at the University of Maine Foundation to support poultry projects in Maine 4-H clubs with a preference for projects involving heritage breeds. Dr. Hawes and Alice Hawes have been longtime supporters of poultry projects, Cooperative Extension, the Page Farm and Home Museum and 4-H Clubs in Maine. The Hawes’ poultry fund will support projects that provide learning experiences in areas such as business, entrepreneurship, record keeping, documentation, problem-solving, food safety, and animal husbandry for Maine youth. With Carolyn Christman of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Dr. Hawes co-authored “Birds of a Feather: Saving Rare Turkeys from Extinction.” As a result of his commitment to turkey conservation, he received, in 2003, the Bixby-Sponenburg Breed Conservation Award from the ALBC. In 2014, he was recognized by the American Poultry Association for his long-term commitment to the breeding and exhibiting of pure-bred poultry. Dr. Hawes has degrees from the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, and the Pennsylvania State University and is now Professor Emeritus of Animal, Veterinary and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Maine.

Humanities Center named for generous donors

Photo of Clem McGillicuddy

The University of Maine Humanities Center has a new name, reflecting the generous support of Clement McGillicuddy ’64 and his wife Linda of Hobe Sound, Florida and Northeast Harbor, Maine.

The McGillicuddys support the Humanities Center through a fund they established at the University of Maine Foundation. The two met in New York City while working in the computer industry, and are committed to “giving back” to a state that means a great deal to their family.

Clement McGillicuddy appreciates the Humanities Center’s diverse activities in Orono and across the state. He is especially appreciative that the Center’s outreach extends well beyond classroom learning and opens new horizons for high school students and other Maine citizens. He cites poetry as a long-time, personal interest that is celebrated by the Center, and lauds the Center’s director, Jennifer Moxley, as “a splendid poet and inspirational speaker”.

The UMaine alumnus adds that the Center’s mission resonates with his own experience as an undergraduate who grew up in Houlton, Maine. “The University of Maine exposed me to many new situations, including an introductory course that required us to pick up and read The New York Times every day. To this day, The New York Times feeds my deep interest in the human condition and how the world works.   Many of my courses at UMaine, unrelated to my major, contributed to my curiosity and created a foundation for lifelong learning.”

“An important role of the University of Maine is to advance — and advocate for — the humanities,” says UMaine President Susan J. Hunter. “Humanities teaching, research and engagement are critical to fulfilling our statewide mission. In collaboration with private and community partners, we help ensure that culture enriches the human experience.”

“The McGillicuddys are champions of the arts and humanities,” says Jeffrey Hecker, UMaine vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Their support for the Humanities Center will impact students and faculty, but also countless people of all ages who benefit from the partnerships the center has built with humanities organizations throughout the state. Their commitment to the arts and humanities, especially here in Maine, is inspiring.”

The Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center advances teaching, research and public knowledge of the humanities. By developing and supporting programs that engage art, literature, history, philosophy, politics and diverse cultures, the MHC aims to enrich the lives of all Maine citizens.

 

Photo above: Clement McGillicuddy ’64

Read more about the Clement and Linda McGillicuddy Humanities Center