WOW! 54 lbs OF GARBAGE! THANK YOU to the chickadeeds volunteers who joined us Sunday, Oct 23, 2022 to clean Willard Beach!

Much gratitude to nonprofit parter Surfrider Maine, who leads the charge of ocean preservation and rising above plastic, and League of Women Voters, our local nonpartisan political org that encourages informed and active participation to vote for change!

Benefiting Partner: Surfrider Foundation Maine
Event Partners: Little Chair Printing

After Event Takeaways: Keep up collecting trash found in nature! Sign up for a free account at cleanups.surfrider.org and record your own clean up data and impact.

Wowza! 400 kits (100 warmth kits, 100 toiletry kits, 100 children’s art kits, and 100 minute for mom kits) assembled and 125 winter coats, warm clothes, and boots collected for Maine Needs this weekend!

THANK YOU to the 125 chickadeeds volunteers who gathered in the sun at Maine Mead Works to:assemble kits, create handmade cards with help from event partner @lovelab, and collect warm winter clothing.

All 400 kits and clothing will be donated to Maine Needs -- a local nonprofit that connects clothing and supplies to Portland individuals and families in need.

Benefiting Partner: Maine Needs

Event Partners: Maine Mead Works, LoveLab

After Event Takeaways: Maine Needs collects donations year-round and is always seeking volunteer help. Volunteers organize donations, fulfill requests, and assemble items into packages to deliver. Check out their website for their up to date needs.

Supply Drive for the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine

The Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine serves 3,000 kids, ages 5-18, annually with year round programming and healthy meals. T

o show our gratitude for their incredible work in our community, chickadeeds volunteers held a supply drive to fill the Club’s closets and pantry.

We collected:

❤️ 664 healthy snack packs and snack bars

❤️ 128 winter hats, coats, scarves, gloves, and boots

❤️ 170 take home Valentine’s Day card kits

Benefiting Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine

Valentine’s Day Vibes at the Boys & Girls Club

On Feb. 7, 2023, chickadeeds volunteers brought love and cheer to the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine! We celebrated Valentine’s Day with the after-schoolers at the club with:

❤️A homemade dinner for 170 kids, led by chef Amy Kayne @2getherwegather

❤️A Valentine’s Day Card making station

❤️A Valentine’s Day Cookie decorating station featuring delicious cookies made by @mepoweredbaking

❤️A Valentine’s Day decorations station
Benefiting Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine

Event Partners: 2Gether We Cook, ME Powered Pastries

After Event Takeaways: The Boys & Girls Club is always looking for volunteers to take on one-time, or ongoing service projects to help in any area!

Puppy Love at the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland

A round of apaws for our Puppy Love volunteers! On March 12, 2023, volunteers of all ages attended our community service event for the Animal Refuge League. Together we:

🐶 Made 34 crinkle bottle sock toys for shelter dogs , 🐶 Stuffed 10 giant kongs for shelter dogs, 🐶 Braided 20 rope toys for shelter dogs, 🐰 Made 15 cranberry + hay bags for shelter bunnies, 🐱 Made 125 catnip toys for shelter cats, 🐶 Compiled 14 assorted treat bags for shelter animals, 🐰 Created 8 adoption posters for shelter kennels, 🐱 Packed 14 foster take-home bags for use with when shelter animals are adopted, 🐶 Delivered the collected donations of: 1 dog crate, 3 leashes, 39 cans of cat food, 1 bag of dog food, 24 cans of dog food, and 3 bags of cat food

Benefiting Partner: Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland

After Event Takeaways: Visit https://arlgp.org/ to see how YOU can support the Animal Refuge League year-round with pet food and supply donations, and to learn more about their *adopt don’t shop* philosophy.

Painting Hoe-Down at Ketcha Outdoors

T H A N K Y O U to the 105 chickadeeds volunteers (ages 1 - 77) who showed UP at our service event for Ketcha Outdoors!

Together, we dedicated 210 service hours toward:

🟥 Painting
23 picnic tables, 3 structures, 1 gaga ball pit, 1 long property fence

🪴Gardening
3 24ft x 6ft garden beds worth of lumber donated, 1 8ft x 4ft garden bed worth of lumber donated, 4 new garden beds weeded, 4 new garden beds filled with soil

🚜 Spreading Wood Chips + Sand
many lbs of bark chips + sand moved by tractor, many lbs of bark chips + sand spread under tree groves and ropes course by rake

☀️ Collaborating on a Mural
1 new cyanotype mural produced by @jessprintpress and volunteers during the event & gifted to Ketcha Outdoors

Benefiting Partner: Ketcha Outdoors

After Event Takeaways: Many Ketcha projects happen thanks to volunteers! If you are interested in signing up for a volunteer project, contact Billy Murdock at bmurdock@ketchaoutdoors.org   

Combat Hunger with Preble Street at their NEW Food Security Hub

Let’s hear it for the chickadeeds volunteers who dedicated a combined 175 service hours to support Preble Street’s mission at our Combat Hunger event on June 4, 2023!

Together (for Preble Street’s first time welcoming volunteers under 13 years old), we:
🧅 150 onions chopped, 🥔 15 bags of sweet potoatoes chopped, 🍞600 slices of bread prepped with butter for sloppy joes
🥜 755 PB&J sandwiches made and bagged 🥪 896 brown bag lunches assembled with pre-packaged food, cutlery, and napkins🍊5,271 clementines unpacked, sorted, and hand-washed, 🍎 5 boxes of apples and mixed fruit sorted and rotten fruit removed for compost 🚗 40 prepared meals and coffee were delivered to the YMCA, 🚙 20 prepared meals were delivered to Recuperative Care, 🚐 20 prepared meals were delivered to Elena’s Way, 🚌 40 prepared meals were delivered to the Florence House 🛒 $500 worth of household groceries purchased and delivered to Preble’s Street stockroom to fill grocery boxes for newly housed Mainers 🥫6 bags of pantry staples donated by chickadeeds volunteers who arrived at the event

We are in AWE of the family power and learning activated this month to meet Preble’s Street’s biggest needs ✨

Benefiting Partner: Preble Street

Interdimensional Craft Kits for the Children’s Hospital 

What an incredible start to our 2023-2024 Event Schedule!
On September 10, 2023 our volunteers gathered on Portland’s Western Prom. Together, we: 

❤️ FELT the power of public art connecting communities and sparking dialogue, thanks to @tempomaine + artist Chris MIller (@npdworkshop)’s colorful, current installation Carousel Cosmos

🤝 ASSEMBLED 100 Interdimensional Craft Kits (inc 3D models of Miller’s extraordinary Carousel Cosmos animals, galaxy and ski origami papers, sparkling pipe cleaners, colorful pom pom bursts, + paper straws with stars) for pediatric patients in the neighboring BBCH @mainemedicalcenter

🙏 HEARD from BBCH nurse Mary Labady about how craft kits are just one of the ways our medical professionals can help their patients feel happy and cared for during their hospital stay

Wild Seed Adventure Day at Turkey Hill Farm

On October 16, 2023 over 100 chickadeeds volunteers gathered to support the ecological work of @wildseedproject and @celtmaine!

Together, we demolished the work list of:

🌳 PLANT and mulch their Hedgerow with 30 new plants
✂️ MANAGE invasive plants by removing dead bush Honeysuckle in the Meadow
💪 EXPAND their nursery grounds by removing an old fence
 🌸 CREATE SEED BALLS and experiment with different planting methods
🎨 PAINT ROCKS for the Farm’s meeting circle

Wild Seed project shared, “Thank you everyone who came out! We enjoyed such a joyful and productive afternoon. Your efforts made a visible and important impact at the seed nursery, and we were grateful to get to spend time with the Chickadeeds community!”

November Kit Mania for Maine Needs

On November 12, 2023 a group of 118 chickadeeds volunteers, ages 2 - 73, came together to support the work of @maineneeds! Eleven Youth Leaders led service stations and ran our closing impact report.

Event partner + low waste advisor: @gogorefill
Event snack donor: @holydonutmaine
Event space donor: @bissellbrothers

Together we:

❄️ Collected 247 Warm Winter Clothing items for donation 🧼 Assembled: 97 Cleaning & Toiletry Kits (created from upcycled bottles thanks to GoGo Refill’s container drive + new product stickers!) 💕 Assembled 200 Minute for Mom Kits 🎨 Created 200 Handmade Cards for the Minute for Mom Kits 🔥 Made 18 Double-lined Community Fleece Blankets

Deep bow to the community partners who joined this effort:
Toiletry & Cleaning Kit donor: @gogorefill
Toiletry & Cleaning Kit bag donor: @hannafordmkts
Minute for Mom Kit donor: @presencemarketing
1,500 kit product donors: @gogorefill, @lcchocolates @mineralfusion, @andalounaturals, Prince of Peace Tea

WE. ARE. GRATEFUL. Let’s keep taking care of each other, Portland ❤️

Holiday Bash at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine

On Dec. 19, 2023 we tapped into a joyful collective holiday cheer at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine!

@bgcsm hosts up to 200 kids per day for safe, enriching programming AND meals year-round 🙏 To celebrate all that happens at this essential community center, our volunteers convened to deliver an extra festive, super-duper holiday bash for club members grades K-6 and staff!

Our December Impact Report shows that together, chickadeeds volunteers (50 onsite and 90 gift shoppers):

❄️ Decorated the Club’s lobby for the season 🍝Made and served a 4-course homemade dinner for 100 🎨 Led a holiday photo card creation station🍬 Whipped up hot cocoa + a sweet popcorn candy bar 🤸‍♀️Played fun holiday games in the gym 🎁 Delivered 131 presents from the Club’s wishlist 🥨 Donated 336 snack packs for the Club’s pantry

Thank you to Amy Kayne of @2getherprivatechefs, our event partner, who led the menu and charge in the kitchen + has a very handy collection of kids’ knives! 🔪👌 Visit https://www.bgcmaine.org/volunteer to support this beautiful non-profit club between our events!

We are still feeling the joy from this event and are sending our happiest holiday wishes to you, our community near and far 🙏❤️‍🔥💫 📣🐦

Welcome To Maine: Children's Cards & Coloring Books

Beautiful work volunteers! Thank you for attending Monday February 12th's event to create welcome gifts for the children of asylum-seeking families.

Your handmade messages and coloring book kits will show the children of New Mainers that we are happy they are here + make their time spent waiting while their parents meet with immigration staff more fun!

Our impact report shows that together 36 volunteers, including kids up to 11 years old:

⏳Donated 72 service hours, 🗺️ Learned about asylum seekers' journeys and needs from ILAP experts, 🚸 Heard that belonging is a shared value from host venue Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, 📩 Explored the welcome card format (with spaces for personal messages in native languages and drawings of favorite places in Maine) from material sponsor Katie Fischer Design, 🤗 Created 100 welcome cards in three languages,🫎 Delivered 100 Maine state coloring books, 🖍️ Delivered 100 boxes of crayons, 📚 Collected 50 children’s books for ILAP’s waiting room

Each chickadeeds event continues to affirm: it is our teamwork that makes the dream WORK! Thank you nonprofit partner @ilapmaine, event sponsor @katiefischerdesign, host venue @childrensmuseumandtheatreofmaine, and chickadeeds Board members who supported this event!

Letters to Legislators

Well done volunteers! Thank you for attending our February 13th volunteer event supporting nonprofit partner Immigrant Advocacy Legal Project’s local work to level access to justice! Volunteers at this event were invited to step into advocacy work with ILAP - including learning how individual citizens can steer our democratic process and investigating a currently proposed legislation that would positively affect asylum-seekers in Maine: Congresswoman Pingree’s bipartisan Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act.Co-sponsored by María Elvira Salazar (R-FL), the act would allow new Mainers to provide for their families much sooner after applying for asylum and begin making valuable connections in their new communities — all while boosting our shared local economy.

Together, 30 volunteers, including teens aged 11-18 years old:

⏳Donated 60 service hours, 🗺️Learned about advocacy work and the bi-partisan Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act from ILAP policy experts, 🚸Heard why belonging is a shared value from the host venue Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, 🎤Listened to Cape Elizabeth sophomore Liam’s interview of Congresswoman Pingree’s District Representative Sarah Lawrence on the role of a Member of Congress + facilitated Q&A
(After our elected official’s district representative departed) , 📩Explored letter writing campaign formatting from material sponsor Katie Fischer Design, 📝Wrote and mailed 30 individual letters with personalized messages of support for the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act to our Representative, Congresswoman Pingree, 📫Pre-packaged 70 blanks advocacy letters for further distribution

Each chickadeeds event continues to affirm: it is our teamwork that makes the dream WORK! The cumulative power felt from each area of expertise (cause, policy, government, sponsor, host venue) represented in the room last Tuesday was palpable!

Thank you nonprofit partner @ilapmaine, event sponsor @katiefischerdesign, host venue @childrensmuseumandtheatreofmaine, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s district representative Sarah Lawrence, and chickadeeds Board members who supported this event!

Chop-A-Thon for Preble Street

YES, YES, YES CHOPPERS!

Thank you to the incredible chickadeeds community who showed up Saturday March 9th for our first-annual Chop-A-Thon for Preble Street! 81 Volunteers, nonprofit partner @preblestreet, event partner @garbagetogarden, snack sponsors @holydonutmaine and @hannafordmkts, host venue First Congregational Church of SoPo, 15 chickadeeds youth leaders, and 7 chickadeeds board members gathered and made history.

Together, we:
🥦 Collected over $2.5k of vegetable donations, including $500 of veggies for our community table 🔪Chopped a total of 503.81 lbs of peppers, celery, broccoli, and mushrooms ⏳Donated a combined 122 hours of chopping 🥕Applied 50 temporary veggie tattoos 🌶️ Delivered 24 large bins of the prepared vegetables to Preble Street’s Food Security Hub 🌏 Returned 120 lbs of food scraps to the earth at Garbage to Garden’s 106 acre composting farm ❤️‍🔥 Experienced 2 hours together in the pure joy of collective action

Thank you to community member Jess Proctor who dried, weighed, and recycled all plastic wrapping (via Trex Recycling program)- reducing our event’s total waste to the equivalent of ¼ of a trash bag.

Our chop-a-thon experience is an example of how community can gather for a simple 2 hours per month to grow compassion and make an immediate, felt impact! Imagine what else we can do together!

Combat Hunger with Preble Street

Following last month’s offsite Chop-A-Thon, we next went onsite into Preble Street’s Food Security Hub in South Portland for an intimate volunteer experience that touched all parts of their indoor operations.

Together, 31 volunteers donated a combined 62 service hours to:
🔪Test our tolerance + chop 50 lbs of onions 🥜 Whip up 172 PB&J sandwiches 🍞 Assemble 315 brown bag lunches 🧽 Scrub 615 potatoes, and in the process ❤️ Find 3 heart shaped potatoes 🥨 Mix + bag hundreds of bags of trail mix 🥫 Collect pantry donations at the door ⏳ Spend 2 hours making an immediate, felt impact

None of this would be possible without dreamy nonprofit leader @preblestreet, who partnered with us to design new ways of bringing volunteers of all ages into their facilities, offered volunteers a tour of their food security hub, and shared illuminating stats about their DAILY work to support Mainers.

Plant Maine’s Future with Living Lands & Water

Hey Earth Month volunteers, you rock! 🌏 Thank you for showing up for the planet and our April community service event, Plant Maine’s Future, this past Sunday April 28.

Together, we:
🏟️ Gathered 198 volunteers for 2 hours of collective action for the climate 🎤 Learned about why trees are our best partners for environmental conservation 🖼️ Participated in a tree-themed scavenger hunt throughout the PMA’s art collection 🌳 Distributed 500 sapling trees for volunteers to plant and care for as a part of Living Lands & Waters’ 2 Million Tree initiative 🌏 Tracked planting locations across 16 Southern Maine towns

Thank you, volunteers, for your commitment to adopt and steward these 500 new trees in Maine - an effort that will benefit our whole ecosystem!

Our deepest gratitude to our three event partners for this month:
Nonprofit Partner: @livinglandsandwaters
Event Host: @portlandmuseum
Event Sponsor: @presencemarketingllc

Coastal Cleanup at Willard Beach with Surfrider Foundation Maine

🌊✨ 432 lbs of trash 🌊✨

Thank you to May’s powerful Coastal Cleanup Volunteers! On Sunday, May 19, 2024 we rolled up our sleeves to welcome beach season and:

🤝 Gathered 90 volunteers of all ages for 2 hours of collective action for ocean preservation 🌊 Heard from Surfrider Foundation Maine, who fights for plastic reduction, ocean and coast protection, beach access, and clean water 🗑️ COLLECTED A WHOPPING 432 lbs OF TRASH 🧮 Split into 7 tarp teams to sort and count each piece of trash by material type 📋 Documented the number, material type, and weight of trash collected to report to legislators — to inform policy and conservation resources

Nonprofit Partner: @surfridermaine, who leads this work year-round!
Snack Sponsor: @holydonutmaine, who believes in collective action and keeps our volunteers fueled!

Pride Parade with Equality Maine

🎉 Chickadeeds had a blast supporting Equality Maine during Pride Month! 🌈✨ On June 15, 2024, we proudly led the Portland Pride Parade with @equalitymaine and @theparkdanforthportlandme, dancing and waving with thousands through the heart of the city. 🕺💃 Handing out pride flags and bracelets, we felt the love everywhere! ❤️ Huge shoutout to our amazing volunteers who collected over 75+ clothing items for Equality Maine's campers. 🙌👕 Let's keep spreading joy and equality together! #PrideMonth@EqualityMaine 🏳️‍🌈🎊

Eco-Adventure & Bonfire with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust 🔥🌿

This Sunday at Cousins River Marsh Preserve, we rolled up our sleeves to:
🤝 Gather 40 volunteers for collective action toward marsh preservation
🌊 Hear from Maine Coast Heritage Trust on how crucial salt water marsh ecosystems are for supporting the biodiversity of coastal environments, mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration, and protecting our habitats by soaking up storm surge
🪨 Build 54.5 ft (or 150 sq feet) of new rock riprapping by hand on trail banks to protect against erosion
🌿 Pull 985 invasive buckthorn plants to restore the habitat for a wide range of native plants and animals
⏳ Donated a total of 80 hours of service

A deep bow to Nonprofit Partner @maine_coast_heritage_trust, who leads this work year-round by conserving 180,000+ acres and 337 islands, including 160 places open to the public and 100+ miles of hiking trails, around the state! ❤️

Planting Seeds of Hope 🌱🌼

For our November ‘24 community service project, we roll up our sleeves to:

🤝 Gather 35 volunteers for collective action toward mental health awareness
📣 Hear from the Yellow Tulip Project about how when communities come together, get their hands dirty planting a garden, and talk about mental illness, hope blooms!
🔄 Learn about the lifecycle of flowers from Portland urban farm, Backyard Blooms
🚜 Deliver a new community space for year-round conversations
💐 Plant 1,000 tulip bulbs
🪻 Plant 300 allium bulbs
🪨 Install a perimeter garden rock circle
🎨 Creatively express via painting, crafting affirmations, and writing hopeful letters
⏳ Donate a total of 70 hours of service
It was especially beautiful to be in community during election week, coming together for local action!