The Maine Women‘s Giving Tree recently awarded a record $100,000 in grants, ranging from $1,500 to $9,000, to local nonprofits benefiting women, children and families.

Representatives of the organizations were honored on May 24 at the Highland Green Community Center in Topsham. Since awarding its first grants in 2012, the nonprofit Giving Tree has contributed nearly $600,000 to dozens of local groups. Giving Tree members pool their contributions and vote every year on how to distribute the funds.

“We are a group of women with a shared commitment to support outstanding initiatives that benefit women, children and families in the communities where we live,” said Jane Fenderson Cabot, of Harpswell, the group‘s president. “We‘re thrilled that our grant awards for 2023 represent the largest annual total amount of giving in our history.”

        
The 18 grant recipients are: ArtVan, $8,000; Bath Area BackPack Program, $4,000; Bath Area Family YMCA, $6,000; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick, $6,000; The Gathering Place, $5,000; Growing to Give, $5,000; Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine, $5,000; I‘m Your Neighbor Books, $3,000; Maine Coast Fishermen‘s Association, $5,000; Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, $9,000; Midcoast Literacy, $4,000; Midcoast Youth Center, $7,500; Oasis Free Clinics, $8,250; Oliver Place (NFI North), $4,750; Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, $8,000; Tedford Housing, $5,000; TogetHER Invested, $1,500; and Wayfinder Schools, $5,000.