Westbrook, Maine – January 25, 2024 – In response to the cost of home heating oil, the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation has donated $30,000 to support the Keep ME Warm Fund, providing direct and immediate home heating assistance to Mainers in need. “Making a contribution to the Keep ME Warm Fund will allow us to help our neighbors when they need it most. No one should have to choose between paying for heat and other essentials. Our hope is that we can make the lives of individuals and families in the communities we serve a little easier this year,” says Jeanne Hulit, President and CEO of Maine Community Bank.
As we are amid the coldest months, the cost of basic needs, like rent and food, continue to rise in our state. Thousands of Mainers are faced with choosing between heating their homes and basic needs like food and medicine. Unfortunately, MaineHousing reports that federal LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) benefits will be about half of what they were last year, due to the end of some special funding programs. In addition, there has been an increase in applicants needing assistance. Donations to Keep ME Warm help to make the winter warmer and safer for Maine families. The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation donation will help people across Maine, including the bank’s footprint in the Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York regions. Keep ME Warm Funds are distributed through 211 Maine, local United Ways, and community partners.
The Keep ME Warm Fund, in partnership with local community service organizations, relies heavily on donations and distributes assistance based on need. “Thousands of Mainers are struggling to pay for heat this winter,” says Liz Cotter Schlax, President and CEO of United Way of Southern Maine. “Maine Community Bank’s generous support of Project Heat directly benefits the Keep ME Warm fund, which helps households in emergency situations. We are so grateful for their donation, which will help to keep seniors, children, and other vulnerable Mainers warm.”
Together, Maine Community Bank and the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation contributed over $325,000 to several local non-profit organizations in 2023 and continues to support the local community through donations, volunteerism, and in-kind donations each year.
About Maine Community Bank
Biddeford Savings and Mechanics Savings have been financial partners with the people of Central and Southern Maine for the past 150 years. To help carry out their commitment to the communities they serve, the two banks merged on January 1, 2020, becoming divisions of Maine Community Bank. The merger expands the lending capacity, product offerings, and branch service areas, while keeping all decision-making at the local level. They have branches in Auburn, Biddeford, Brunswick, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Scarborough, Waterboro, and Windham, with a new branch and operations center in Westbrook.
About the Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation
The Biddeford and Mechanics Savings Charitable Foundation was created in July of 2020 and is structured to give back to the communities in a larger, more enduring way. The Foundation’s mission is to help individuals and families in the bank’s local communities meet their basic needs and achieve financial empowerment.