FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Donna Dwyer, President & CEO
July 23, 2015 (207) 854-2800 or donna@myplaceteencenter.org
My Place Teen Center CEO Meets with Governor to Discuss Funding for At-Risk Youth
(Westbrook, Maine) – As a former at-risk teen himself who went on to become the 74th Governor of the State of Maine, Gov. Paul R. LePage has always shown a keen interest in kids who overcome obstacles to realize their full potential.
My Place Teen Center President and CEO Donna Dwyer has a similarly vested interest in this issue, so much so that MPTC has become one of Maine’s most successful agencies at keeping kids who may have been dealt a bad hand in life fed with nutritious food, focused on education and off the street.
So when the two met recently in the Governor’s office along with members of MPTC’s Advisory Committee to discuss the funding challenges and shortfalls faced by Maine’s critical nonprofits like MPTC, which serve an ever-increasing need for underprivileged youth in our communities, there was unanimity of understanding of what’s at stake.
“We’re all on the same page on the importance of education and character,” said Governor LePage following the meeting, “and I was impressed by what I saw when I visited [MPTC] back in February. Donna and her staff show a real commitment to seeing at-risk teens succeed, and this administration shares that.”
“We had a phenomenal visit and we are so appreciative that the Governor made time for us,” said Dwyer after the meeting. “He understands more than most what these kids face, and knows the challenges they meet in trying to rise above them.”
Gov. LePage promised to come back to Westbrook later this summer to help raise money for MPTC by co-hosting a portion of a radio telethon for the agency on “The Ray Richardson Show,” which is broadcast weekdays from 6-9:00 a.m. weekdays on WLOB Radio News Talk 1310 AM.
Moments after the meeting between Dwyer and the Governor, MPTC was recognized by proclamation on the floor of the Maine Senate by Senate President Michael Thibodeau (R-Waldo) and State Senator Cathy Breen (D-Cumberland).
Just since last fall, MPTC has been named WCSH’s “Agency of Distinction” at the 6 Who Care Awards, received a Next Generation Foundation grant large enough to fully pay off the mortgage on its Main Street headquarters, been named this year’s only state recipient of the Tom’s of Maine “50 States for Good” cash prize, and honored as Mainebiz’s Nonprofit Business Leader of the Year.
Moreover, MPTC’s immediate future looks as good as its recent past. Longtime NewsCenter 6 anchor Cindy Williams has agreed to be a presenter at MPTC’s annual “Fund-a-Kid” fundraiser, its biggest of the year, on Thursday, October 1st from 6-8:30 p.m. at its center at 755 Main Street in Westbrook.
In recognition of its efforts on behalf of Maine children and families over the years, MPTC was also chosen to receive a 2015 Giraffe Award from the Maine Children’s Alliance (MCA), which advocates for a better life for children, youth and families throughout Maine. That award will be presented at MCA’s annual “Champions for Children” event on October 27th at the Green Ladle in Lewiston.
And the generous donations continue unabated, including $10,000 from the TD Charitable Foundation as part of its summer initiative, the Friends of the International kicked in $2,000, and the Westbrook and Falmouth Rotary Clubs gave $7,500 for a year’s worth of local, healthy produce to help the kids at MPTC learn about nutrition. MPTC thanks TD Charitable Foundation President Michael Rayder and TD Bank’s President and Senior Loan Officer for Maine, Larry Wold, as well as officials at the aforementioned organizations for their generosity.