Employees Pledge to Help Neighbors in Need.
Through our Annual Giving Campaign, Martin’s Point employees come together and pledge important financial support for the United Way, Community Health Charities of Maine, and MaineShare—umbrella organizations representing hundreds of critical local and national nonprofits dedicated to community health and well-being. Despite ongoing hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic, employees’ generous pledges, along with organizational matching funds, helped make our 2022 campaign one of our most successful to date. Since 2015, the Martin’s Point Annual Giving Campaign has raised $922,419 for community organizations.
Going Virtual to Stay Connected
Involvement with community events is one powerful way that Martin's Point has traditionally supported local nonprofits. As an event sponsor, we often provided in-person “boots on the ground” support along with financial backing for events with our strategic community partners.
Town of Scarborough, Zumba in the Park & Kids Pound Fitness in the Park | American Heart Association Go Red Luncheon & Heart Walk | American Diabetes Tour de Cure | STRIVE Rocks | Portland Kid's Duathlon | Girls on the Run 5K | Hear ME Now Break the Sound Barrier Ski Race | Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival | Dempsey Center Dempsey Challenge | Portland Trails Holiday Dash 5K | Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End ALZ | Granite State Independent Living's Annual Hoops on Wheels Wheelchair Basketball Tournament | Milestone Recovery Your Miles for Milestone Walk | Oasis Free Clinic's Brunswick in Bloom Gardening Tour | Scarborough Primary PTA's Race to the Point | Maine Cancer Foundation Tri for a Cure | Travis Mills Foundation Miles for Mills | And many more!
At Martin’s Point, supporting employee engagement in community service is a direct expression of our organizational values. Through our generous Volunteer Time Off (VTO) program, employees can spend up to 24 hours of paid time each year volunteering at local nonprofits of their choice. In 2022, our employees clocked in an impressive total of more than 1625 volunteer hours—an almost 40% increase in hours over the previous year!
Maine Adaptive Ski-a-Thon | American Heart Association Heart Walk and Go Red Luncheon | Pride Portland! | Maine Cancer Foundation Tri for a Cure | American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure | Strive Rocks | Girls on the Run 5k | Elder Abuse Institute Hope is Key Gala | Maine Senior Games Athletic Events | and more!
Food pantries across the country experienced unprecedented demand in 2020 as pandemic-driven job losses pushed many more of our neighbors into housing and food insecurity. Finding volunteer support and sufficient funding became an increasing challenge for these organizations, including our longstanding community partner Preble Street. When Martin’s Point employee Denise Hammond learned that they needed help getting out their annual holiday-giving appeal letter, she spotted a COVID-safe way to support those in need in her community while engaging her whole family in the giving spirit of volunteerism. She gathered her family in a disinfected Martin’s Point boardroom and assembled over 500 appeal letters—an effort that made possible Preble Street’s most successful appeal campaign ever (including a $10,000 donation from Martin’s Point)!
Active employee engagement supporting our community has always been a hallmark of our Martin’s Point culture. Despite the pandemic’s damper on most in-person volunteer opportunities, our fifth year of participation in the Be a Santa to a Senior program highlights our continued dedication to finding ways to touch the lives of those in need in our community. This year, we increased to 50 the number of local disadvantaged seniors whose holiday wish lists were granted by generous Martin’s Point employees—stuffing festive gift bags with new slippers, favorite soaps, boxes of sweets, and much more. These gestures of caring warmed hearts and lifted spirits during a particularly lonely year for many of these elder community members hard hit by the isolation caused by the pandemic.
When the pandemic started, Susan Rivet, Health Plan Care Manager, knew she wanted to make a difference. When she started getting requests from parents for the custom-made, kid-size face masks she had sewn for her grandchildren, the lightbulb switched on. Soon she was using her Martin’s Point VTO to join three friends mass-producing pint-size masks for local students. To the delight of Lakes Region School District teachers and young students alike, Susan’s “Protecting Students from COVID” project delivered 340 little masks bedazzled with glitter, Disney characters, favorite animals, and bright colors. In Susan’s words, “This has been a tough year for everyone, including schools that have gone beyond their budgets to make classrooms COVID safe. Making masks was a heartwarming way to make a difference in my community.
Food pantries across the country experienced unprecedented demand in 2020 as pandemic-driven job losses pushed many more of our neighbors into housing and food insecurity. Finding volunteer support and sufficient funding through this high-demand period became an increasing challenge for these organizations, including our longstanding community partner Preble Street. When Martin’s Point employee Denise Hammond read on Compass that they needed help getting out their annual holiday-giving appeal letter, she spotted a COVID-safe way to support those in need in her community while engaging her whole family in the giving spirit of volunteerism. She, her husband, and four children gathered in a disinfected Martin’s Point boardroom and assembled over 500 appeal letters—an effort that made possible Preble Street’s most successful appeal campaign ever (including a $10,000 donation from Martin’s Point)!
Active employee engagement supporting our community has always been a hallmark of our Martin’s Point culture. Despite the pandemic’s damper on most in-person volunteer opportunities, our fifth year of participation in the Be a Santa to a Senior program highlights our continued dedication to finding ways to touch the lives of those in need in our community. This year, we increased to 50 the number of local disadvantaged seniors whose holiday wish lists were granted by generous Martin’s Point employees—stuffing festive gift bags with new slippers, favorite soaps, boxes of sweets, and much more. These gestures of caring warmed hearts and lifted spirits during a particularly lonely year for many of these elder community members hard hit by the isolation caused by the pandemic.
When the pandemic started, Susan Rivet, Health Plan Care Manager, knew she wanted to make a difference. When she started getting requests from parents for the custom-made, kid-size face masks she had sewn for her grandchildren, the lightbulb switched on. Soon she was using her Martin’s Point VTO to join three friends mass-producing pint-size masks for local students. To the delight of Lakes Region School District teachers and young students alike, Susan’s “Protecting Students from COVID” project delivered 340 little masks bedazzled with glitter, Disney characters, favorite animals, and bright colors. In Susan’s words, “This has been a tough year for everyone, including schools that have gone beyond their budgets to make classrooms COVID safe. Making masks was a heartwarming way to make a difference in my community.
At Martin’s Point, supporting local organizations whose missions align with ours is one important way we boost our impact on the well-being of our community. Through a combination of employee-inspired charitable giving and long-term strategic partnerships, we harness the exponential power of joining forces for the greater good.
Maine Audubon works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people in education, conservation, and action.
Portland Wheelers provides adapted-bike rides for people of all ages with physical and intellectual disabilities, getting them outdoors for therapeutic socialization, adventure, and fun.
Portland Gear Hub is a nonprofit, used outdoor gear and bike shop aiming to get more youth and adults outside and active by increasing access to affordable, reliable equipment, and educating about bike safety and maintenance.
Portland Trails is a nonprofit urban land trust that that has created and maintains a 70+ mile network of trails and green spaces that connect people with places in Greater Portland.
Apex Youth Connection provides fifth-graders through high schoolers with supportive mentors and outdoor programs that build skills promoting empowerment, self-confidence, resilience, and leadership.
Honor Flight Maine is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's Veterans for all their service and sacrifices.
Oasis Free Clinics is a non-profit, no-cost primary care medical practice and dental clinic, strengthening their community by providing patient-centered care to uninsured adults in MidCoast, Maine.
Through These Doors provides services to those affected by domestic abuse and related issues in Cumberland County. They offer community education, prevention, and training on the dynamics of domestic abuse while working to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.
The Center for Grieving Children is a safe place for children, teens, and their families to find compassionate peer support, engage in commemorative activities, learn about the grieving process, and express feelings and experiences in an accepting environment.
The mission of the Maine Senior Games is to provide athletic events and wellness opportunities to improve the health and fitness of people aged 45 and older.
Indigo Arts Alliance connects Black and Brown artists from diverse backgrounds to engage in their creative process as mentors and mentees—providing Maine-based artists of African descent access to practicing artists of color from around the world.
Cultivating Community grows sustainable communities by expanding access to healthy, local food. Through modeling, teaching, and advocacy, they empower people of all ages to play diverse roles in restoring local, sustainable food systems.
Special Surfers is a non-profit organization sharing the empowering experience of surfing with children and young adults of all ages with special needs.
Maine Boys to Men works to end all forms of male violence and self-harm and advance gender equity by supporting the development of self-aware, empathetic boys and men.
Over 40 years ago, dedicated residents formed the Falmouth Land Trust and began preserving green space just to the north of Maine's largest city—providing places to disconnect from technology and reconnect to the natural world.