UMPI EFFORTS IMPACT HUNGER,
HEALTHCARE & THE ARTS
AT HOME AND ABROAD
T
he University of Maine at Presque Isle has been working on many projects
and efforts that range from hunger and food poverty to crowd-sourced art,
and while some of these activities are making a big impact locally, the ripple
effect of some are also being felt globally.
This fall, the University’s Bio-Med Club has been
Aroostook County chapter of PWH, which would help in
working with the Maine-based nonprofit organization
more efficiently transporting medical supply donations to
Partners for World Health [PWH] to help get donated
Bangor and Portland and beyond. For more information or
medical supplies to developing countries. The club is
to help start the chapter, please contact the UMPI Bio-Med
reaching out to local medical facilities so that such
Club at -.
donations can be transferred to PWH and then distributed
In October, the University and Northern Maine
to those in need. PWH strives to reduce medical waste while
Community College encouraged some healthy competition
improving global well-being by recycling medical supplies
for a good cause, hosting the institutions’ nd Annual Food
that need to be discarded because of U.S. government
Fight. Last fall, in honor of Hunger Action Month, UMPI’s
regulations. So far, the club has received a large donation
Registrar Kathy Davis had the inspiration to begin a friendly
from TAMC—including patient beds, infant warmers and
competition between UMPI and NMCC in support of
wheelchairs—and two local businesses, Storage Solutions
hunger awareness and to combat local food poverty issues in
and Parker K. Bailey & Sons, have stepped up to help
a meaningful way. After last year’s successful event, when the
transport and store these materials until they can be retrieved
two higher education institutions collected a combined ,
by a PWH truck. The club hopes to grow this effort into an
pounds of food, both UMPI and NMCC worked to beat
the total. Together, they collected enough food and
money to equal a combined , pounds of food, which
was donated to Catholic Charities Maine. UMPI’s Houlton
Higher Education also participated in the competition and
donated its food items to St. Mary’s food pantry in Houlton.
Also during the month of October, UMPI and the
Presque Isle Rotary Club again joined forces to host the th
annual World Polio Day and Purple Pinkie Project celebration. With the help of the Rotary Clubs of Caribou, Fort
Fairfield, Limestone, Mars Hill and Washburn, the celebration stretched throughout central Aroostook County. All
activities helped to raise awareness of Rotary International’s
62
WINTER 2016