United Way welcomes two AmeriCorps members

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FARMINGTON – United Way of the Tri-Valley Area welcomes two AmeriCorps members to serve for one year, initially, of a two year program called Food for the Future.

Danielle Blair and Abigail Howell will focus on addressing food insecurity in Greater Franklin County. Specifically, they will develop a program to increase access to locally grown nutritious food; foster greater communication among 13 area food pantries to leverage more resources; and recruit and train food pantry volunteers to meet the growing need.

Food for the Future is supported by a grant to the Maine Commission for Community Service from the Corporation for National and Community Service under Corporation for National and Community Service Award 15AFHME001 AMD #6. United Way of the Tri-Valley Area is the host site for this AmeriCorps program.

Meet AmeriCorps Members serving with United Way

Abigail Howell

Abigail began serving alongside the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area as an AmeriCorps member in September 2017. Her duties include working alongside her team member Danielle Blair on the Food for the Future program. The goal of this program is to work with the local food banks in Franklin County and Northern Androscoggin County, train volunteers so they are well-versed in resources, and increased the number of volunteers in local food pantries.

Abigail Howell graduated from Mt. Blue High School in the spring of 2017. While in High School she was involved with Interact, NHS, and lots of singing groups. She was honored to be the president of Interact from 2016-2017, her duties included finding ways to volunteer, and holding meetings every Wednesday. She has volunteered with many different organizations including, United Way, Rotary, and Safe Passage. In February 2017, she traveled with a group of Rotaract members to Guatemala to serve in the program Safe Passage, while in Guatemala she was able to serve in a school in the Guatemala City Dump. In Abigail’s free time she enjoys volunteering in her community, traveling to various places, singing and playing ukulele. Abigail plans to attend college to study Global Studies so she can learn more about the amazing world she lives in.

Abigail lives in Farmington with her boyfriend Cameron and their cat Ferguson. She often refers to herself as the Postmaster’s daughter. Abigail is looking forward to serving in AmeriCorps in the community that she calls home.

 

Danielle Blair

Danielle began serving alongside the UWTVA as an AmeriCorps member in September of 2017. Her duties are primarily related to the Food for the Future program, which aims to build the capacities of Franklin and Androscoggin county food banks through efforts on sustainability, networking, and community resource training; however, she also spends time answering office phone calls, directing people to local resources, and fundraising.

Danielle graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in Spanish from the Honors Program at the University of Maine at Farmington in 2017. Her degree, Social, Cultural, & Political Aspects of Rehabilitation, was designed to explore the effects of overarching politics and culture on individual circumstance.

Danielle has been particularly active in terms of community service. Most recently, she has volunteered for the first annual COLOR ME UNITED 5k Run/Walk and filled totes for Totes for Teachers through the UWTVA. Danielle has also volunteered with Double B Equine Rescue in Industry, and while studying at the University College Cork in Ireland, on full scholarship through the George J. Mitchell Peace Scholars program, Danielle helped organize several city-wide language exchange meetings and assisted Amnesty International in organizing a full-day event that brought refugees to the college campus for cooking, language, aerobics, money-management, and social-living classes.

After her service, Danielle plans to attend the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she has been accepted into their globally-oriented Masters of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation program. In the meantime, however, Danielle—an avid tennis player and novice hiker— will continue living in Farmington with her partner, Scott, and their dog, Pinocchio.

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1 Comment

  1. What a great program and such talented leaders in it! Good luck and congratulations to Danielle and Abigail.

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