The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation located in Freeport has awarded the Boothbay Region YMCA a $75,000 grant in support of its “Going Green for Better Health” initiative. The YMCA will use $50,000 of the funds to install a building management system to increase its operational efficiency and $25,000 of the funds will support the Community Sidewalk project. The initiative aligns with the Y’s mission to promote individual and community health, which includes a commitment to a healthy, clean environment.

“Investing in energy efficiency helps the Y to meet the ‘triple bottom line’: improved operational economics, redirected resources towards social equity and positive environmental impact,” said Andy Hamblett, executive director of the Boothbay Region YMCA. The building management system, to be installed by fall 2015, will reduce the YMCA’s fuel and electricity expenses by up to 8 percent. These savings will allow the YMCA to redirect resources towards social equity, mission-based programming and financial assistance. In 2014, the Boothbay Region YMCA provided $450,000 in subsidized programs, services and financial assistance to over 700 lower income youth, families and seniors, delivering on its promise to ensure that everyone in the community has access to the YMCA’s programs and services.

As part of the YMCA’s commitment to healthy living, it has partnered with the Boothbay Region Community Trails Partnership and the towns of Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor to provide a safe, accessible walkway for the entire community. The walkway will connect Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor along the busy Route 27 corridor, giving people a safe passage for walking with the ability to access the local schools, playground, businesses, other trails and the YMCA. The walkway, which is slated for construction by the Maine Department of Transportation in 2016, will be a great step forward for the health and well being of residents and visitors to the greater Boothbay Region.

The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation supports both of these projects through its new Healthy People Healthy Places program. The long-term impacts of both of these projects are a cleaner environment and increased human well-being. The Foundation makes grants to organizations using, or committed to using, a deliberate, unified approach to enhancing well-being, prosperity and resiliency of people, communities and nature.