Nonprofit Notebook: Good Shepherd and public schools among recent grant recipients

File photo / Tim Greenway Kristen Miale is president of Good Shepherd Food Bank, which received a $1 million grant from the Ludcke Foundation.

File photo / Tim Greenway Claudette Ndayininahaze, center, is executive director and co-founder of In Her Presence, a Portland nonprofit.

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By Peter Van Allen

The New Balance Foundation has made a total of $375,000 in grants to seven nonprofits in Massachusetts and Maine, addressing remote learning in schools, technology and food insecurity.

In Maine, grant recipients were Auburn-based Good Shepherd Food Bank and Maine School Administrative District 54, which includes six Somerset County municipalities — Skowhegan, Canaan, Mercer, Smithfield, Cornville and Norridgewock. Boston-based New Balance Athletics Inc. has manufacturing sites in Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Norway. The foundation did not specify how much went to each organization.

As SAD 54 moved into hybrid learning, the district encountered unexpected costs associated with digital learning. Funding from the New Balance Foundation will help pay for subscriptions to digital books, websites and other tools that students need; digital support services for reading and math to replace or supplement tutoring; and digital tools to communicate with students, the foundation said.

As part of its Youth and Family Initiative, Good Shepherd Food Bank partners with more than 210 public schools, early childhood centers and college campuses to provide easy, consistent access to nutritious food for students and their families.

“These funds will help school food pantries provide consistent access to nutritious food for 2,000 families. Our school partners not only serve as food distribution sites in vulnerable areas but are also a vital community resource hub where families feel welcomed, supported, and safe,” says Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank. Miale was a 2020 Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year.

STEM education addressed with Portland grant

Portland-based EnviroLogix granted $16,000 to the Foundation for Portland Public Schools to help with STEM education. The grant was made by the EBI Foundation, which is affiliated with the EnviroLogix parent company, Ensign-Bickford Industries. The money was split between the school system’s Equity and Innovation Teacher Grants and the district’s STEM initiatives, including the annual STEM Expo.

Additions to Good Shepherd board

In other news at Good Shepherd Food Bank, the nonprofit added Claudette Ndayininahaze and Kate Rush to its board of directors. Ndayininahaze, who was recognized by the 2020 Mainebiz Next List, is executive director of the Portland nonprofit In her Presence. Rush was most recently senior vice president and director of community relations at Bangor Saving Bank. The organization also said Jessica Donahue, marketing and communications manager, was appointed to the Public Relations Society of America Yankee Chapter board of directors and Sam Michaud, director of facilities and safety, was elected president of the Maine Volunteers Organized Active in Disaster board of directors.

New director at Biddeford nonprofit

Engine, an arts nonprofit in Biddeford, hired Jessica Muise as executive director, effective Feb. 1. Muise previously led data and partnership efforts for the creative economy team at the New England Foundation for the Arts in Boston.