Project Leaders: Mobilize Katahdin Coalition

COVID-19 is seriously impacting the lives of the most vulnerable people in the Katahdin region. In this time of need, a newly formed coalition Mobilize Katahdin is distributing emergency aid  to individuals and organizations that provide direct services to people in need across the Katahdin region and building a local response network of trained volunteers. Examples include: Gift cards for groceries and gas, increased access to local resources, and phone check-ins for individuals, and funds for local food pantries and organizations that assist with home heating. Over the long term, Mobilize Katahdin hopes to continue to connect people and businesses to information and resources to rebuild and strengthen our communities and economy. 

Mobilize Katahdin is a coalition of partners in the Katahdin Region coordinating aid efforts and connecting people to accurate information and local resources as our communities work through the coronavirus pandemic. Modelled after other quick community responses within Maine, 100% of Mobilize Katahdin contributions are supporting the people of the Katahdin region most impacted by COVID-19.  More than 50 families have been supported, with requests rising. The most common request is for assistance with groceries and white goods, both purchasing and having them delivered. Additional requests include help with purchasing gas to continue to be able to go to work, and having a phone-buddy call and check-in a few times a week. Forty volunteers have signed up and been trained to be “phone buddies” or to safely visit the grocery store and deliver groceries. 

Anticipating months of immediate, acute needs within our communities and longer-term assistance needs that emerge as activities resume, Mobilize Katahdin is building a community fund that will allow the coalition to prepare for assistance measures to help community members, small businesses and organizations rebuild when it is safe to reopen and resume activities. Donations made to Mobilize Katahdin will be matched by an anonymous donor up to $10,000. 

For more information about how Mobilize Katahdin is meeting community needs throughout the Katahdin Region visit www.mobilizekatahdin.org. Our coalition is made up of many organizations throughout the Katahdin Region committed to compiling resources and responding to emerging needs in our community, including:

• Town of East Millinocket
• Town of Medway
• Town of Millinocket
• Town of Island Falls
• Town of Patten
• Town of Sherman
• Baxter State Park
• Elliotsville Foundation, Inc.
• Katahdin Chamber of Commerce
• Millinocket Memorial Library
• Millinocket Fire Department
• Millinocket Police Department
• Millinocket Regional Hospital
• Millinocket Schools
• Our Katahdin
• Thrive Penobscot
• UMA East Millinocket Center
• Eastern Area Agency on Aging
• Good Shepherd Food Bank
• Katahdin Region Higher Education Center
• Outdoor Sport Institute