Corporate and philanthropic leaders donate $270K to launch racial justice fund
Courtesy / Maine Justice Foundation
Seen here are logos of the 22 founding donors of Maine Justice Foundation’s Racial Justice Fund.
Twenty-two Maine companies, along with the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, have joined forces to raise $270,000 to launch the Racial Justice Fund, a program of the Maine Justice Foundation in Hallowell.
The 22 founders represent a wide range of Maine companies, law firms and professional services that have committed gifts of $10,000 each. They are AARP Maine, Androscoggin Bank, AT&T, Baker Newman Noyes, Bangor Savings Bank, Bernstein Shur, Central Maine Power, Cross Insurance, Deighan Wealth Advisors, Drummond Woodsum, Eaton Peabody, F.L.Putnam Investment Management, Gorham Savings Bank, HM Payson, Hancock Lumber, Hannaford Supermarkets, Harvard Pilgrim, Northern Light Health, Pierce Atwood, Preti Flaherty, RM Davis, Verrill and the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, which pledged $50,000 grant to help launch the fund.
The Maine Justice Foundation will continue to seek donations to increase the fund.
“By supporting the fund, each of these organizations has recognized that it will take money as well as public support to fully address racial injustice in Maine,” Michelle G. Draeger, executive director of the Maine Justice Foundation, said in a news release. “A critical dialogue about race discrimination is occurring across our nation and state, in our workplaces and inside our homes."
The fund will support education and advocacy aimed at achieving racial justice and equity and eliminating racism. The goal is to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color and to forge social, systemic and economic solutions to combat racism in Maine’s culture, organizations and systems.
Kevin Hancock, chairman and CEO of Hancock Lumber, said in the release: “I am really proud that Hancock Lumber can be a part of launching the Racial Justice Fund. The concept and practice of ‘justice for all’ has to meaningfully include every person in our country, and I believe Maine can be a leader in that national effort. There is an ethos of fairness, neighborliness, and inclusiveness towards all in Maine that can serve as a platform for creating a society that aspires to work for everyone and is trusted by everyone. Hancock Lumber is committed to doing our part, both in our business practices and in supporting community efforts for equity and justice.”
An advisory committee has been created to formulate the specific goals of the fund, issue a request for proposals and recommend grants.
For more information, click here.
The Maine Justice Foundation, founded in 1983 as the Maine Bar Foundation, is the state’s leading funder of civil legal aid for poor and vulnerable Mainers.
In 2019, the foundation welcomed growing bank support when Sanford-based SIS Bank signed on as a prime partner in a program to fund six providers of legal aid in the state.
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