Weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., you can walk into the Community Center and be greeted with a smile and a welcome. You can help yourself to coffee and baked goods or fresh fruit and settle into a comfortable chair to chat or join a class.

In the 18 months since the center opened, the management and staff have learned what it takes to keep the doors open and the welcoming atmosphere in place. Although it appears easy, there are hours of planning, fundraising and work involved to make sure things run smoothly.

Take, for example, the daily baked goods. Ten to 15 area bakers donate treats each week. One of them, 94-year-old Curtis West, arrives every Wednesday with freshly baked popovers.

The center’s all-volunteer management and  28 volunteer staffers contribute 153 hours a week.  That does not include the 40 folks who donate their time to teach classes. Because there is no paid staff, all work is done by volunteers including washing floors, vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms.

Classes are free, as is everything else, except the bottled water. It costs $1.

The center is booming. When the doors opened in September 2015, a handful of classes were on the schedule for the 2,240 square foot space. Today, there are 23 classes each week (some meet evenings and occasional weekends); and an additional 623 square feet known as the annex was added to meet the demand.

All of this has a cost. There were 7,119 visits to the center last year and this year is on track for the same number or more.  Last year, it took $23,960 to provide services to area residents. Operating costs are carefully tracked and even expenses like paper towels (40 rolls each month) and coffee (140 cups each week) are part of the calculation.

Income comes from a number of efforts. The sewing, knitting and crafting groups donate their finished projects to the boutique. In 2016, these sales raised $1,729. Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport contributed a combined $7,750 and fundraising efforts with community organizations like the Rotary and Lions clubs have raised in excess of $9,000. Sales of donated homemade pies at Thanksgiving, a cookie sale for Valentine’s Day and gift baskets at Christmas added to the income.

Has all of this effort made a difference to the community? The center received the 2016 Community Improvement Award from the Boothbay Harbor Region  Chamber of Commerce and recognition from Maine’s Congressional delegation.

Holly Stover, Boothbay Region Community Resources Council board member, said, “The center certainly has a niche and has created a place for social opportunities for people — particularly those who live alone and are isolated — to engage and feel part of a social community. It has reduced isolation and we all need a sense of belonging.”

Pastor Al Roberts and his wife, Becky, of the Boothbay Region Community Fellowship have also noted the center’s impact. “We know of a number of folks who come to the Fellowship who visit the center. They’ve said how wonderful it is. From our standpoint, it’s met a need that was missing before,” said Al Roberts.

Center volunteers have collaborated on projects to help local schools, New Hope for Women, the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, the Food Pantry and others.  

Boothbay Town Manager Daniel Bryer Jr. occasionally stops in. “I’ve given it the ‘eyeball test’ and it is a critical community area. People have a place to congregate during the day. And because the center has also reached out to the schools, there is an interaction that may not have happened otherwise.”

The center opened in 2015 with funding from the Boothbay Region Health and Wellness Foundation. Today, for most activities it functions as a separate entity with its own governance committee. Some resources are still provided by the foundation.

Those wishing to contribute may make their checks payable to the foundation and note on the memo line that the contribution is for the Community Center.

For more information, call the center at 633-9876.