Rines Thompson Fund

2025 Grants

A Company of Girls, Portland, for general support: $5,000
Acorn Productions, Portland, for school playwriting workshops for youth ages 12-18 in greater Portland, creating opportunities for artistic, literary, and personal growth: $1,575
Birth Roots Inc, Portland, for general support: $5,000
Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, Portland, for general support: $5,000
Catholic Charities - St. Elizabeth’s Child Development Center, Portland, for general support: $5,000
Community Conservation Initiative, Portland, for general support: $2,500
Cultivating Community, Portland, to provide leadership development internship opportunities for fifty underserved Portland Public High School students through four paid, multilingual, nature-based, food-centric, skill-building programs each year: $8,500
Friends of Casco Bay, Portland, to track, protect, and restore eelgrass, a vital and threatened habitat in Casco Bay, through technology and community engagement: $7,500
Friends of Congress Square Park, Portland, for general support $5,000
Girl Scouts of Maine Inc, South Portland, GSME will continue bringing after school enrichment, social/emotional learning, and life skills to girls in Cumberland County who could not otherwise participate in Girl Scouts: $2,500
Gym Dandies Children's Circus, Scarborough, Building skills and confidence one participant at a time: $1,900
Intercultural Community Center, Westbrook, for general support: $7,500
Junior Achievement of Maine, Portland, to provide financial literacy, career exploration, work readiness, and entrepreneurship training to 495 low-income students in Portland and Westbrook during 2026. $5,000
Locker Project, Portland, for general support: $10,000
Maine College of Art & Design, Portland, to assist with our collaborative community outreach activities on behalf of Maine College of Art & Design’s class projects and partnerships with public engagement components: $5,000
Maine Historical Society, Portland, for Revolutionary Maine: America at 250 educational experiences and curriculum to engage Portland-area students and teachers in dialogue about our country’s founding principles: $5,000
Maine State Ballet, Falmouth, to replace our outdated fire alarm system, which no longer has available parts, with a safe, reliable system that meets current building standards $5,000
Mayo Street Arts, Portland, for a Traditional Arts Showcase designed to connect Maine-based performing artists with non-traditional presenters from Southern Maine: $3,000
Northeast Historic Film, Bucksport, to catalog, digitize and publish the television stories from Portland and Cumberland County created by WCSH between 1954 and 2008 by replacing DOGE terminated funds: $7,500
One Longfellow Square, Portland, for general support: $3,000
Portland Conservatory of Music, Portland, for general support: $2,500
Portland Stage Company, Portland, to host our K-12 education programs which focus on building social and emotional skills through theatrical exploration, creativity, and collaboration in the Greater Portland area: $5,000
Preble Street, Portland, to provide safe shelter and meet the immediate basic needs of youth experiencing homelessness in Maine and help them identify and achieve their goals: $10,000
Reach Out and Read, Northport, to promote early literacy and early relational health by integrating Reach Out and Read’s model into pediatric care for 5,700 Greater Portland children and families: $10,000
Rippleffect, Inc, Portland, to continue reestablishing the Rippleffect Outdoor Leadership Education (ROLE) after-school program for our partner middle and high schools of Portland and South Portland: $5,000
Safe Families for Children Alliance, Topsham, to empower parents navigating daily challenges of parenting with time, space, and practical tools to strengthen behavior management strategies and cultivate healthier, parent child relationships: $7,500
Seedlings to Sunflowers, Gorham, for general support: $5,000
Side X Side, Portland, for pairing teaching artists with classroom teachers to co-create “From Stream to Story” an arts-based unit that engages learners, builds interpersonal skills and supports academic success: $2,500
SPACE, Portland, for general support: $2,500
The Center for Grieving Children, Portland, for general support: $5,000
The Opportunity Alliance, South Portland, to build a playground in Portland’s Riverton neighborhood to provide a safe, engaging space for Head Start students, families, and neighbors: $5,000
The Telling Room, Portland, for general support: $5,000
University of Maine School of Law Foundation, Portland, to increase the aspirations of high school students to pursue careers in healthcare, better understand intimate partner violence, and see themselves as advocates for change: $5,000
Youth and Family Outreach, South Portland, for general support: $5,000

2024 Grants

Avesta Housing Development Corporation, to expand the Multicultural Children's Books Lending Library to an additional Avesta property in Portland that is home to many immigrant families: $4,100
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine, for community events that provide crucial opportunities for shared experiences, skill-building and network expansion: $10,000
Falmouth Conservation Trust, for ongoing place-based environmental education opportunities for children and students in Portland and Falmouth: $5,000
Friend of the Presumpscot River, for outreach and education programming related to the Presumpscot River: $5,000
Friends of the St. Lawrence Church, to maintain a state-of-the-art, 106-seat theater in the St. Lawrence Church: $7,500
Good Shepherd Food Bank, to reduce childhood hunger in Greater Portland by increasing access to nutritious and culturally relevant foods through welcoming, low-barrier youth and family programs: $5,000
Ketcha Outdoors, to provide community members in need of transportation with bicycles, locks, lights and helmets: $5,000
Khmer Maine, to support the preservation of Khmer Dance through youth education and development and our public festival: $3,000
Kino, to collect, conserve and screen significant motion pictures in their original film format to preserve the analog cinema experience: $10,000
LearningWorks, to support educational needs of children and youth in our community: $5,000
Maine Academy of Modern Music, for music education, youth development programming and community concerts by young musicians: $2,500
Maine College of Art, to assist with our collaborative community outreach activities: $5,000
Mainely Smiles, to assist with clinic expansion in Portland to make oral health care more accessible: $5,000
My Place Teen Center, to ensure every child feels safe, well-fed and is encouraged to thrive: $5,000
Opera Maine, for general operating support for its 2025 season of opera performances and opera education: $5,000
Our Place Portland, for our core resilience-building programs: $5,000
Palaver Strings Incorporated, to bolster low-income students’ skills through one-on-one mentoring, and ensure program participation by providing transportation to Palaver’s afterschool music education program: $5,000
Peregrine, for new technology to support a photography program at STRIVE Studios’ art program: $2,500
Portland Chamber Music Festival, for Winter Warmer Festival concerts and related community and educational activities: $5,000
Portland Housing Services Corporation, to empower marginalized youth to enact positive change in their communities while developing leadership and life skills ensuring future success: $10,000
Portland Lyric Theater, to improve the safety, reliability and effectiveness of the electrical circuitry in the theater: $5,000
Portland Parks Conservancy, for Portland Youth Corps, a work-service program that engages teens in environmental stewardship and professional development: $5,000
Portland School of Ballet, to improve the methods and systems used to store and maintain Portland Ballet’s 400+ costumes: $5,000
South Portland Historical Society, to assist with expanding the role and hours of a part-time cataloger/museum assistant position: $5,000
TEMPOart, to distribute art kits and curricula to schools and community organizations: $2,500
Victoria Mansion, to offer free admission days to expand museum access for students and their families: $5,000
Women United Around The World, to provide vocational education to immigrant women to pursue careers in fashion and textile arts at the Maine Stitching Academy: $5,000
Woodfords Family Services, to develop and implement a therapeutically-informed arts, music, and movement program for students with developmental disabilities: $5,000

2023 Grants

A Company of Girls, for arts-based enrichment opportunities that provide mentorship, confidence building, resiliency and leadership development: $2,500
Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, for youth development programs for al young people: $5,000
Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, for theater performances: $6,000
Friends of Casco Bay, to reduce stormwater pollution in Casco Bay: $10,000
Friends of Congress Square Park, for free arts programming: $5,000
Furniture Friends, to provide essential household furniture to people with low incomes in southern Maine: $5,000
Intercultural Community Center, for educational, health and social needs of immigrant and refugee youth in Westbrook: $7,500
Junior Achievement of Maine, to provide financial literacy, career exploration, work readiness and entrepreneurship training to Westbrook students from low-income households: $5,000
Kids First Center, to support children in families going through, divorce, separation and conflict: $5,000
Ladder to the Moon Network, to support employment of the full-time deputy editor: $5,000
Locker Project, to provide reliable access to healthy food for children and families in Greater Portland: $10,000
Maine Boys to Men, for its Reducing Sexism & Violence Programs: $5,000
Maine Charitable Mechanic Association, to support literary arts and performing arts programming: $5,000
Maine College of Art, for collaborative community outreach: $5,000
Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, for Maine Lit Fest programming: $5,000
One Longfellow Square, for community live music: $5,000
Portland Ovations, for the School-Time Performance Series, high-quality performing arts experiences and arts education activities and resources for families, students, and educators: $5,000
Preble Street, to provide safe shelter and basic needs to youth experiencing homelessness: $10,000
Saltwater Classroom, to design an online ocean education platform that connects students to their communities and natural world through hands-on learning experiences: $3,000
SPACE Gallery, to invest in its physical and virtual workplaces: $2,500
The Center for Grieving Children, for bereavement and peer-support programs: $5,000
The Opportunity Alliance, for the Global Bookshelf Fund, to translate classroom materials and provide multicultural books and educational toys: $4,000
The Telling Room, for creative writing, literary arts education and youth development programs: $5,000
United Way of Southern Maine, to develop a child care entrepreneurship ecosystem and increase the number of quality child care programs: $10,000
Yellow Tulip Project, for youth-driven creative arts programming and planting Hope Gardens to face stigma around mental health: $2,500
YMCA of Southern Maine, to expand programming access for new immigrant families to foster community connections and learn water safety skills: $10,000