Making a Difference!

Learning, Giving, Socializing…

There is a special feeling that comes when caring people are together.

During 2019, the Extension Homemakers in Cumberland County activities have included, but were not limited to:

  • Cherry Mead Making and Apple Pressing
  • Hosting a holiday craft fair with proceeds donated to a local school food backpack program, to a local food pantry, and used for campership and scholarship funds donated to deserving youth through 4-H programs.
  • Upcycled Grain Bags (think tote bags)
  • Planting large vegetable garden boxes, and providing slipper socks for assisted living seniors
  • Making crafts for Meals-on-Wheels and nursing home residents
  • Hats and mittens made for new born babies in special care
  • Providing breakfast at Ronald McDonald House
  • Card Making Class Fund Raiser for scholarships to higher education
  • Sharing short Educational Moments about Maine and the world
  • Working in and stocking food pantries
  • Taking arm-chair trips to interesting places
  • Learning about LifeFlight, MEHC’s Coins-for-Caring project
  • Toys-for-Tots donations (adults had as much fun selecting the toys as the children did receiving them)
  • Learning more about the people and efforts it took to make Women’s Rights a reality
  • Learning skills that make our lives better and more interesting

Shelter Bags: Cumberland County Extension Homemakers’ county-wide service project!

Eighty-eight cloth bags filled with personal care items were collected and delivered to the Cumberland County’s Resource Center in 2019. The recipients of the Shelter Bags are in emergency situations. The Resource Staff relays to us the gratefulness and surprise of the recipients; their delight to feel clean and refreshed, and that someone cares.

Shelter Bags ready for distribution
Shelter Bag Project. Photo by Sharon Ashley. Used with permission.

We welcome new members into our groups.

Members who have been challenged by this or that in their personal lives are enveloped in our caring. When we gather as clubs or as a county, there is that special feeling that comes when caring people are together. To paraphrase one of our Homemakers:

“Whether I am socializing, learning, or working on a project to assist a stranger, it always seems better working with my Homemaker partners.”