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Friday, April 25, 2025
Polar Plunge or Spring Soak? Chamber event boosts ‘Feed the Need’
On Saturday, April 19, roughly 30 community members and their sponsors gathered at the sunny lakefront on Saint Joseph’s College campus in Standish to raise money for hungry neighbors.
The Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce may have billed this event as a “Polar Plunge” but Saturday’s noon temperature – almost 70 degrees – had several participants joking about a rebranding as they cast anticipatory glances at the yet undisturbed waters of Sebago Lake.
Rankine explained that 100 percent of the proceeds from the day's event would be donated to the Feed the Need charitable trust.
“Feed the Need is our ending hunger campaign, and we give funds to all 11 food pantries that are in the Sebago Lakes Chamber region. And it’s not just food. Some people need things like toiletries or diapers or formula,” she said. “The funds go directly to the pantries. We don’t purchase anything for them. We just let them do what they need to as far as taking care of their community goes.”
She hoped to collect about $1,000 from the event but said that any amount raised was sure to help, especially given the current economy and recent federal cuts. Research done by the national nonprofit organization Feeding America shows that food insecurity affects one in eight Mainers. Inclusive in that number are roughly 45,000 children.
The concept of the Polar Plunge was simple: participants registered for the plunge, raised money through sponsorships, and committed to jumping in the lake at midday. Some folks arrived costumed, most notably, the mother-son team of Lisa and Sean Deane of Windham, who showed up dressed as Disney’s Ursula, and rock legend Elvis. To help participants warm themselves, local business Too Haute Saunas provided portable saunas which had frequent use throughout the day as plungers emerged from Sebago Lake. Face painting, a food truck, lawn games, and an egg hunt were also part of the event.
Despite the amenities and the warm weather, participants understood the spring thaw has not yet warmed the depths of Sebago Lake.
John Daniels and his 13-year-old son Isaiah have participated in several past plunges hosted by various organizations, however, both voiced good-natured trepidation as the noon hour approached, and estimated the water temperature to be around 33 degrees. Despite reservations, the duo eventually took the plunge without hesitation.
“This is a good cause, and we want to help out,” said Daniels, who works at Edward Jones in Windham and solicited sponsorship from his colleagues, some in attendance.
Misty Coolidge of the Coolidge Family Farm in New Gloucester detailed her motivation for attending the event as she watched her three children, Caden, Eva, and Grace, gleefully make the jump.
“I am Mrs. New England and my platform for over 20 years has been fighting hunger,” Coolidge said. “As a member of the Chamber, I love that they have the Feed the Need cause. I try to go to all their events because this need is so important.”
She drew attention to the success of the Feed the Need program outside of this singular event. Just this last year, the Chamber donated $20,000 to food pantry directors in need of assistance.
“I wish there were hundreds of people here,” Coolidge said.
Before the day was over, Marcel Vachon, a member of the Chamber Board, took a few moments to recognize the media sponsors who helped make the event possible: Too Haute Saunas, Androscoggin Bank, J. Priest Insurance, as well as Paul’s Boutique who provided T-shirts for plungers. He also thanked St. Joseph’s College for hosting the event.
Lindsay Drumm, who manages corporate partnerships at the college, believes hosting such an event made sense for Saint Joseph’s.
“We really like to give back to the community however we can and sharing this beautiful spot we have on Sebago Lake,” Drumm said. “It’s for a good cause – Feed the Need – and it really aligns with the mission of the college.”
And as for the plunge itself? Not too bad, agreed the refreshed participants, wading back out to the shore after the initial shock of immersion. Flashing a bright smile, a young girl exclaimed “I want to do it again.”
The receiving food pantries are Casco Village Church Food Pantry, Casco Alliance Church Food Pantry, Gray Community Food Pantry, Crosswalk Community Outreach, Naples Community Resource Council, First Congregational Church in New Gloucester, Raymond Food Pantry, Sebago Warming Hut, Standish Food Pantry, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church Food Pantry, and Windham Food Pantry.
Donations to Feed the Need can be made directly on the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber’s website: https://www.sebagolakeschamber.com/feed-the-need/ <
Friday, March 28, 2025
Chamber preparing for ‘Polar Plunge for a Purpose’ in April
It’s a new event at new location, but the bottom line is that it’s same goal to raise money for “Feed the Need” in helping food pantries across the Lakes Region of Maine.
According to Amber Rankine, the chamber’s President and Executive Director, the new location will hopefully induce more participation from students at the school and the community.
She said that the event will be held in memory of the late George Bartlett, who was a Sebago Lake Rotary Club and Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce member for more than 30 years and worked with the Maine Children’s Cancer Network to start the Polar Dip event as part of the annual Sebago Lake Ice Fishing Derby.
When interest in the Polar Dip waned after many years, Bartlett approached the chamber in 2021 wanting to restart the Polar Dip event as a fundraiser for “Feed the Need.”
Bartlett passed away unexpectantly in 2023, but the revived Polar Dip and now the Polar Plunge assists 11 different food pantries throughout the year.
The receiving food pantries are Casco Village Church Food Pantry, Casco Alliance Church Food Pantry, Gray Community Food Pantry, Crosswalk Community Outreach, Naples Community Resource Council, First Congregational Church in New Gloucester, Raymond Food Pantry, Sebago Warming Hut, Standish Food Pantry, St. Ann’s Episcopal Church Food Pantry and Town of Windham Food Pantry.
In the spring of 2016, the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce Charitable Trust was established to raise awareness of the food insecurity in the region and to donate funds to the local food pantries who support this growing need. The initiative is called “Feed the Need” and the trust raises funds throughout the year via grants, generous donations, and events such as the “Polar Plunge for a Purpose.”
“Brave the cold and take the plunge in your favorite costume,” Rankine said. “Sign up as an individual or gather your friends to create a team. Costumes are encouraged to add to the fun.”
Along with the plungers, the public can attend the event to cheer on their favorite teams and enjoy great food from local food trucks on hand for the occasion. There will also be creative face painting for all ages and music and entertainment for the entire family.
For those who choose to plunge into Sebago Lake that day, portable saunas will be available from Too Haute Saunas for participants to warm up after their excursion into the lake.
Participants can sign up as an individual or form a plunging team and early registration is recommended.
Rankine said that prizes will be awarded for the best-dressed plungers and that Emergency Medical Services crews will attend for participant safety.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to have some fun, meet new people, and support a worthy cause,” she said. “Whether you’re taking the plunge or cheering from the sidelines, your participation makes a difference.”
To learn more details about the “Polar Plunge for a Purpose” or to register, call the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce at 207-892-8265 or visit https://www.sebagolakeschamber.com/
Donations may also be given directly for “Feed the Need” on the chamber’s website. <
Friday, November 27, 2020
Virtual science experiments connect college students with Windham eighth-graders
By Ed Pierce
Even in the middle of the pandemic, some RSU 14 educators are
still striving to be innovative while teaching remotely and creating memorable
and innovative lessons for their students. A great example of that is Pamela
Mallard, Windham Middle School math and science teacher.
With her eighth-grade students in the classroom twice a week
and having to learn remotely on Fridays, Mallard teamed up with Chemistry
Professor Dr. Emily Lesher at Saint Joseph’s College to conduct a series of engaging
experiments online this fall for eighth-graders led by college chemistry
students. In past years, Saint Joseph’s have sat in on some of Mallard’s
classes in person, but the pandemic resulted in a change of plans with
all-virtual experiments that students can perform on their own at home.
Mallard said that Professor Lesher reached out to her to
devise a plan about how to implement the same program but in a different
way.
“She devised with her students to come into my class by Google
Meets. College students then led the middle school students in experiments and
learning adventures,” Mallard said.
Supplies needed for the special labs and experiments would be
delivered by Dr. Lesher so that the eighth-grade students would have what they
needed to perform the experiments at home each Friday.
Skyler Conant, an eighth grader in Pamela Mallard’s science
class at Windham Middle School shows an experiment he worked on virtually this
fall with chemistry students attending Saint Joseph’s College. In the
experiment, Conant demonstrated a chemical reaction by mixing baking soda and
vinegar causing a gas that blew up the balloon. SUBMITTED PHOTO
“My students couldn’t wait to see what the package held,”
Mallard said. “The surprise brought such excitement to my students. I would
like to express my gratitude to Dr. Lesher and her students. This year has been very difficult for
students and this outreach allowed them to have something to look forward to.”
According to Mallard, each of Mallard’s 40 students were given
a virtual lesson and experiment, split up into 10 at a time.
“At this age, my kids don’t always see the importance of
science,” she said. “But these college students were able to connect science to
careers they were preparing to enter such as a medical biologist or a game
warden. This allowed excitement to happen again for my students and they could
see the crossover to the future plans for these college students and opened
meaningful dialogue about it.”
Adding to the relevance for the eighth-grader students were
that three or four of the Saint Joseph’s College chemistry students helping
lead the experiments were graduates of Windham High School, Mallard said.
“This allowed my students to see local kids who are attending
a local college and gave them an opportunity to think about what they might
want to study at that level too,” she said.
Participation among the Windham Middle School eighth graders
was 90 to 95 percent for the Friday experiments, which spanned a range of
topics from chemistry to physical sciences.
“They gave them everything they needed to do the experiments
at home and that was met with real enthusiasm by my students,” Mallard said.
“They were able to relate to the college kids and the entire program was
extremely worthwhile because it helped promote math and science and they could
come in to class the next week and share what they learned.”
The final day for the fall experiments for Saint Joseph’s
College students interacting virtually with Windham Middle School math and
science students was Nov. 16.
Mallard said because of the success of the program this fall, she hopes to continue it in January with Lesher’s new class at Saint Joseph’s College. <
Friday, November 20, 2020
IIA’s Academic Elders act as patients so nursing students can learn real-life clinical assessment skills
Officially established a little over one year ago, the Institute for Integrative Aging (IIA) at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine (SJCME) seeks to address loneliness and isolation experienced by many older adults by offering a variety of intergenerational activities. Programs such as Silver Sneakers®, online Coffee and Conversations, a hiking program, a book club and much more have been and continue to be successful. The recent launch of the Academic Elder Volunteer Program was implemented for the first time this fall with nursing students and also proved to be a success.
“We had four amazing Academic Elder volunteers who virtually joined Professor Nancy Bonard’s Nursing Fundamentals Course, acting as ‘standardized patients’ IIA Director Heather DiYenno said. “This opportunity allowed the nursing students to practice their clinical assessment skills along with general communication and interviewing techniques in a simulated environment.”
DiYenno and Bonard have been collaborating on several projects that support both the nursing program at SJCME and IIA. Due to the restrictions from the COVID pandemic, the Academic Elder Volunteer Program filled a gap in hands-on learning.
“The nursing program’s clinical sites for long-term care have been part of the curriculum, working directly with patients at long-term care facilities,” Bonard said. “However, this semester, the nursing students were not able to visit the facilities due to the risk of coronavirus transmission.”
Learning how to communicate effectively with the patient and create a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship would not have been fulfilled if not for the help of the Academic Elders.
“While there are ample opportunities for practicing skills on mannequins [such as bathing and transferring clients], there was a need for students to be able to practice therapeutic communication skills,” Bonard said. “The discussions included many important themes for nursing care, such as caregiving, the unique needs of older adults, transitions of care, and holistic care of clients.”
“At the conclusion of the four-week period, both
volunteers and faculty noted that there was improvement in students’ verbal and
non-verbal therapeutic communication, fostering a positive and
effective
nurse-client relationship,” DiYenno said.
Although the students were not available for an interview, they expressed to both DiYenno and Bonard that they were grateful to talk with a real person, being able to ask better questions that included feedback as a result. This included proper and effective ways of communication – knowing what to say and what not to say to a patient. They also said this portion of the experience was one of the favorite parts of their clinicals.
The Academic Elder volunteers, who had heard about this opportunity through email communications with IIA, share some of their own experiences. Lyman and Darnell Stuart were two of those volunteers.
“Meeting with Nancy and Heather was all that it took to see what a wonderful experience this would be for their students,” Lyman Stuart said. “I love helping anyone further their education in whatever they may be learning, and I found this to be unique.”
Darnell Stuart, who is very engaged in theater, was looking for ways to be involved now that theaters are closed. Having had many years of work experience in senior health care, Darnell believed she was able to contribute to the students’ learning. But she also learned something as a volunteer.
“I was reminded of the term, ‘youth is wasted on the young.’ This is not so true - it is not wasted. It is they who keep us young if we allow them to grow.”A third volunteer, Donna Leitner decided to be an Academic Elder because she had many positive mentors throughout her educational and professional career and thought this would be an opportunity to “pay it forward."
“I’m hoping my involvement afforded students a ‘live
elder’ (albeit by videoconference) to practice
communication and assessment
skills,” Leitner said. “Most importantly, I feel I brought out the life
experiences, frailty and struggles of the characters portrayed in the scenarios
so students could learn to see the person and not just the illness or
disease.”
“Watching their growth caused me to ‘up my game’ in portraying the character as realistically as possible,” she said. “In some instances, I had to do research on the character’s illness or the formal medical assessment scales/tools that might be utilized in their questioning.”
There may be more opportunities for both older adults and students next semester.
“Nancy’s class will continue with a different curriculum and there is a possibility to work with them again this spring,” DiYenno said. “Due to limitations of clinical placement, these students would have otherwise lost a whole year of clinicals without the help of the volunteers.”
IIA is also having discussions with other departments at the college including Social Work and Communications about other Academic Elder opportunities. And it seems from the positive feedback from the first set of volunteers, IIA and the professors will not have to look far for more Academic Elders.
“Their enthusiasm is infectious,” Lyman Stuart said. “I am already looking forward to the spring
semester when we can do this again.”
For other older adults who may be thinking about volunteering their time as an Academic Elder, Darnell Stuart has this to say:
“I do hope more people get involved. The
students deserve what each of us can give them and we deserve the joy of
helping them grow.”
For more information on the Academic Elder Volunteer program, contact Heather DiYenno at the Institute of Integrative Aging by email at hdiyenno@sjcme.edu or by phone at 207-893-7641.<
Friday, October 2, 2020
Saint Joseph’s Institute for Integrative Aging begins tele-social call program for older adults
By Lorraine Glowczak
Studies indicate that strong family and community connections lead to greater levels of health and
happiness. Social isolation, on the other hand, can produce detrimental effects on one’s mental and physical wellbeing. Depression, anxiety, heart disease, and strokes are a few consequences of loneliness.
What is just as alarming is that the experience of isolation
is growing. In fact, social seclusion has become so prevalent on a global scale
that many countries are taking an active role in its prevention, including
Great Britain’s recently established Minister of Loneliness.
The age group most directly affected by this epidemic is among older adults who are aging in place and/or have physical disabilities that prevent easy social connections with others. This is especially prevalent in remote, rural areas like the greater Sebago Lakes Region area.
But there is good news on the horizon.
It is with this awareness that Saint Joseph’s
College of Maine recently took action and officially launched the Institute for
Integrative Aging (IIA) in May 2019 to help alleviate loneliness among area
residents. Since its inception, IIA has been providing a series of creative,
age-friendly, and intergenerational activities that provide opportunities for
connection and fulfillment. A tele-social call program is their latest endeavor
in these efforts and will be getting underway soon.
“We are in the very beginning stages of this
program and are looking for both volunteers and recipients who would like to
participate,” Heather DiYenno, IIA Director said. “Volunteers will be trained
and paired with a recipient of whose interests and hobbies they have in common.
The purpose of the calls is simply to have fun and light-hearted conversations
at least once a week, and the amount of time spent on each call is determined
by the parties involved.”
The tele-social concept was developed by the Motion
Picture and Television Fund (MPTF), based out of Woodland Hills, CA. The idea
was created by Dr. Scott Kaiser, MPTF’s Chief Innovation Officer and Director
of Geriatric Cognitive Health at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute.
“I was introduced to the MPTF and their tele-social program while attending the Rural Aging Advisory Council in Washington D.C. last fall,” said DiYenno. “They opened my eyes on how effective making a simple weekly phone call was at combating loneliness and I wanted to implement a similar program at IIA.”
DiYenno has researched the platforms and
mechanisms that are already in place at MPTF. IIA is collaborating their
efforts with Southern Maine Agency on Aging (SMAA) and the Retired Senior
Volunteer Program, and volunteers can apply for IIA’s tele-social call program
on the SMAA website at www.volunteer.unitedwaygp.org/need/detail/?need_id=535198.
In addition to the application, volunteers will
also be asked to fill out background checks and confidentiality forms. For
those who may be concerned about the circulation of their personal phone numbers,
they have no reason to fear.
“It’s important to let volunteers and recipients
know that their personal phone numbers will not be used as part of the
tele-social call and conversation,” DiYenno said. “A mechanism is created so
that volunteers call a central line which will require a pin number. This will
connect the volunteer to the recipient’s own phone. No personal information
needs to be exchanged.”
During a time when required social distancing
can further intensify social isolation, particularly among
vulnerable homebound
individuals, participation in the tele-social call program may be the most
important thing one person can do for another.
“A friendly call can brighten someone’s day,”
DiYenno said.
One may be surprised at how much a phone conversation
with an individual experiencing loneliness might also help the volunteer
themselves, brightening their own days from time to time.
For more information on becoming a volunteer or
to refer someone experiencing social isolation, contact Heather DiYenno at IIA@SjCME.EDU or at 207-893-7641.<
Friday, March 6, 2020
Saint Joseph’s Professor Unearths College Campus’s Role in Maine’s Statehood
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Dr. Steven Bridge |
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The inaugural button made in 1789 found on campus |
Friday, May 17, 2019
Saint Joseph’s College officially launches Institute for Integrative Aging
Donato J. Tramuto with SilverSneakers participants 95 year old Shirley Saunders, right, and her daughter Judy Alepeter |
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Friday, April 5, 2019
Career fair offers networking and connection for successful professional life in Maine
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Saint Joseph College Alumni, Brett O'Kelly, Jason Riley and Danielle Capozza attended the career fair representing Tyler Technologies |
Friday, September 14, 2018
Speaker tells story of how minor ailment saves him from the tragedy of 9/11 by Lorraine Glowczak
Donato Tramuto |