Stepping up to help Maine nonprofits that may be struggling during the public health crisis, Machias Savings Bank launched a $100,000 Rapid Response Program to assist organizations in need.
Grants of up to $5,000 each are available immediately for applicants. Priority will go to nonprofits addressing food insecurity, services for the aging and isolated, community action programs and emergency response teams.
“Providing quick support to our nonprofit partners across Maine who are directly impacting the community through this pandemic is our priority,” said Melissa Denbow, the bank’s vice president of corporate giving and community relations, in a news release.
The support comes as nonprofits across the nation struggle for survival. A recent New York Times article on their plight quoted Tim Delaney, chief executive of the 25,000-member National Council for Nonprofits.
“Everyone is losing revenue, and many have skyrocketing demand,” he told the paper. “You do the math.”
In Maine, nonprofit groups working in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its physical and financial consequences are invited to apply for Machias Rapid Response Program grants through an online application.
Machias Savings said it will aim fill requests as quickly as possible.
“Our nonprofit community faces unprecedented need. It’s time for us to rally together,” said Larry Barker, the bank’s president and CEO. “The physical and financial challenges are mounting across the state, but so is our collective ability to address them. As a bank, we are committed to helping Mainers get through this financial health crisis, one person, one business and one community at a time.”
Machias Savings said it will also continue its policy of paying each of its 290 employees for up to 20 volunteer hours in their communities, delivering food and essential items to those in need.
For information about all of the resources available to Maine nonprofits during the pandemic, the Maine Association of Nonprofits has a dedicated web page.