NewsCenter Maine and the Tegna Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to the Boothbay Region Health Center for a program to reduce stress among pre-teens and teens. "$5,000 will be used to teach teens and pre-teens how to reduce stress in their lives in order to become resilient, happy, and calm, regardless of the circumstances in which they find themselves," the grant announcement explained.

The other 5 recipients of the total $20,000 in grants were:

• Western Maine Community Action will use funds to bring local fresh produce to childcare providers and their children.
• Women for Health Rural Living funds will be used to expand the "Incredible Edible Milbridge Project," a series of free, help yourself organic vegetable gardens and education initiatives.
• Veggies to Table will partly be used to develop a "Veggies for Everyone" nutrition program to feature farmers' produce.
• United Cerebral Palsy of Northern Maine received $2,500 to support a special purpose preschool for special needs kids.
• Penquis Childrens' Advocacy Center $1,500 will go toward a safe and child-focused place providing support and services to children and their non-offending caregivers when a child may have experienced sexual abuse.

The Health Center plans to offer eight-week online stress relief programs in both the spring and fall of 2022 for two groups — one for 9 thru 12 year olds and the other for 13+ teens. There will be no cost for participating in the programs. Any teen/pre-teen in Lincoln County will be eligible to participate, with up to 20 participants for each age group in each 8-week session. The online classes will take place weekly, with the opportunity to review a missed class.

Participants will learn, master, and be able to teach their peers how to notice unwanted and unpleasant feelings and how to let go of the thoughts that are creating those feelings and let new, creative thoughts emerge.

They will also learn a simple heart-based meditation technique that will switch their mood in a matter of seconds and leave them feeling calm and in control.

And, they will learn how to take advantage of the gap between their current reality and their vision of their goals to leverage structural tension--as opposed to psychological tension--to help them achieve those goals.

For more information about the planned programs, visit Boothbayhealthcare.org/stress-relief-for-teens-pre-teens/, or contact Patty Seybold at 633-4368 or patricia.seybold@boothbayhealthcare.org.