Unique Community Event Matches Volunteers With The Organizations in Need of Help

Scarborough, Maine, October 16, 2006 – Piper Shores, Maine’s first and only lifecare retirement community, today announced that the Piper Shores Volunteer Opportunities Fair will be held on Saturday, October 21st. This unique community event will take place in the Piper Shores Great Room from 12-3pm. As nonprofit organizations across America prepare events for USA WEEKEND Magazine’s 16th annual Make a Difference Day, the fair seeks to recruit and match caring and intelligent individual volunteers with nonprofit organizations from the Greater Portland community.

The Volunteer Opportunities Fair will provide potential volunteers with a convenient opportunity to talk with many different organizations at a single event. Events such as Make a Difference Day bring attention to a very real need in the Portland community.

“Volunteers are vital to our programs and to our communities. It takes many, many hands – 300 a week, to help our neighbors who are struggling to survive,” said Elena Schmidt, Director of Development & Human Resources at Preble Street, a place where the community comes together to make sure that its neighbors--children, adults, and families--will not go hungry.

The benefits of volunteering go both ways: as one veteran volunteer said, “I volunteer to help myself, for the same reasons that I exercise. It’s good for me.”

“Many of the residents at Piper Shores actively volunteer their time and energy with organizations throughout the Greater Portland community,” said Deb Riddell, Executive Director at Piper Shores. “Often, the only way people learn about volunteer opportunities is through word of mouth. We wanted to create an environment where the whole community could come and learn about many different organizations that are looking for volunteers. All of these organizations are doing important work and rely on the generosity of neighbors to help them achieve their goals.”

Organizations scheduled to appear at the Volunteer Opportunities Fair include:

• American Red Cross
• Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland
• Cape Elizabeth Land Trust
• Center for Grieving Children
• Friends of the Scarborough Library
• Holbrook at Piper Shores
• ITN – Independent Transportation Network
• Marine Animal Lifeline
• Maine Audubon Society
• Maine Alzheimer’s Association
• Mercy Hospital
• Maine Jewish Film Festival
• MMC – Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital
• Maine Mentoring Partnership- Greater Portland Mentoring
• Preble Street Resource Center
• Portland West
• Ronald McDonald House
• Scarborough Land Trust
• Scarborough Library
• Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging
• Sweetser

The timing of the event is planned to allow connections to be made between volunteers and nonprofit organizations in time for participation in the upcoming USA WEEKEND magazine’s Make A Difference Day, America’s largest day of doing good. In 2005, a record 3 million volunteers participated nationwide and an estimated 28 million people-in-need benefited from their efforts. http://www.makeadifferenceday.com/

Nonprofit organizations are hoping to talk with residents of Piper Shores and community members from throughout Greater Portland.

“We’re looking forward to talking with people and hearing from lifelong area residents at Piper Shores about their experiences growing up in Cape Elizabeth and their remembrance of the town’s rich agricultural heritage,” said Chris Franklin, executive director of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust.

The event is free and open to the public. If you would like more information about attending the Piper Shores Volunteer Opportunities Fair, please call Andrea Killiard at 207-883-8700.

About Piper Shores
Piper Shores is the only nonprofit lifecare retirement community in Maine. Built in 2001 in a style that complements Maine’s architectural heritage, Piper Shores is located on 138 acres of beautiful oceanfront property, situated between Higgins Beach and historic Prouts Neck in Scarborough, Maine. Piper Shores is an innovative retirement community that promotes the long-term wellbeing of its residents through a continuum of activities and lifecare services. Piper Shores residents enjoy active, independent lifestyles with guaranteed priority access to on-site assisted living and skilled nursing care, whenever they may need it.

Piper Shores is owned by Maine Life Care Retirement Community, Inc., a Maine nonprofit organization, formed by a group of accomplished local individuals to deliver the shared vision of creating an ideal retirement community on the coast of Maine.

For more information, visit http://www.pipershores.org or call 207-883-8700.