Courtesy / Maine Seacoast Mission
Jennifer Jones.
September 5, 2022
New Downeast director brings food security experience to Seacoast Mission
COURTESY / MAINE SEACOAST MISSION
Maine Seacoast Mission’s signature vessel is the Sunbeam, seen here leaving its berth in Northeast Harbor.
By Staff
The new interim Downeast director for Maine Seacoast Mission brings past experience in food security through her previous work with the Good Shepherd Food Bank and the Bar Harbor Food Pantry.
The mission this week welcomed Jennifer Jones as its interim Downeast director. The previous director, Melvin Adams III, departed Aug. 5 to become dean of student life at Maine College of Art & Design in Portland. Jones’s appointment became effective Tuesday.
The Downeast campus is in Cherryfield and serves over 900 youth, families, and seniors through a variety of programs and partnerships with schools and community organizations.
The mission is a nonprofit headquartered in the town of Mount Desert that serves islands and coastal communities.
Jones has worked with nonprofits in Downeast Maine for almost a decade, most recently as the community resource representative for eastern and northern Maine at the Good Shepherd Food Bank. Through that position, Jones worked with the mission’s Downeast food security program staff in Washington County.
“She brings a wealth of leadership training and experience with education, youth development, program evaluation, service programs and food security,” the mission’s president, John Zavodny, said in a news release.
Jones said her previous work experience with the mission impressed her with the nonprofit’s “collaborative and creative mindset of Washington counties’ nonprofits, towns and citizens to strengthen their communities. I decided I wanted to be a part of the incredible work.”
Before Good Shepherd, she was executive director of the Bar Harbor Food Pantry, where she grew the organization's visibility in the community through expanding its social media presence, grant opportunities, news articles and collaborations with other organizations and businesses. She launched new distribution programs and a satellite produce distribution center.
Jones graduated from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and earned a master's degree in environmental education from the University of Minnesota.
The mission works with coastal and island communities by educating youth, supporting families and promoting good healt by offering healthcare, education, food, shelter and spiritual support by land and by sea.
Last month, the mission awarded its 2022 Sunbeam Award to nine Downeast education partners and to an early proponent of a Downeast program called EdGE.
Courtesy / Maine Seacoast Mission
From left, EdGE’s co-founders, Connie Greaves Bates and Les Coleman, with the mission’s president, John Zavodny.
The awards were presented during the mission’s annual gala, held Aug. 18 in Bar Harbor.
The education partners included Beals Elementary, Cherryfield Elementary, D.W. Merritt Elementary, Harrington Elementary, Jonesport Elementary, Milbridge Elementary, Rose M. Gaffney Elementary, Narraguagus Jr/Sr High School, and Sumner Memorial High School.
The mission’s EdGE program was founded 20 years ago in Washington County. Today, EdGE has grown to be the mission’s signature youth development program Downeast and serves around 700 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and their families each year through afterschool and leadership programs and summer camps. EdGE programs include outdoor recreation, tutoring and STEM programs, as well as nourishment, support and coaching for students and their families through the mission’s family engagement program.
Coleman was a key figure in the development of EdGE.
EdGE first started at Harrington Elementary School in Harrington.
“EdGE provides experiences and opportunities for success that gives our students the confidence to see their future selves being successful,” said Ron Ramsay, superintendent of MSAD 37 and Harrington’s principal at the time. “They do this through building trust while constantly challenging and stretching the students’ comfort zone.”
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