The Maine Children’s Alliance is pleased to feature the recipients of the 2022 Giraffe Awards, which honor community heroes who “stick out their necks” for Maine children, youth, and families. Giraffe Award winners are individuals, organizations, and businesses who routinely go above and beyond, investing time, energy, and talent for the well-being of Maine kids and families. The winners of the 2022 Giraffe Awards are:
Bernstein Shur, Business Award. Founded in 1915, Bernstein Shur is a female-led, New England-based law firm, with offices in Portland, Augusta, and Manchester, NH. Bernstein Shur has become an industry leader in their parental leave policy, providing 16 weeks of paid leave to all new parents (attorneys and staff members) regardless of gender. In particular, the policy provides equal benefits to all new parents because of birth, adoption, or foster care placement. This family-friendly policy provides all new parents with flexibility in utilizing their paid leave time, and the policy benefits are immediately available to new employees.
Senator Cathy Breen, Legislator Award. Sen. Cathy Breen is finishing her fourth term in the Maine Senate. Senator Breen championed the creation of the Early Childhood Consultation program, aimed at reducing the rates of suspension and expulsion of young children, by providing resources and support to teachers and parents of children to address challenging behaviors. In 2022, she sponsored legislation to expand this program statewide. As chair of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, Sen. Breen provided leadership on many significant achievements, including the expansion of Medicaid; reaching voter-mandated 55% state funding for public PreK-12 education; supporting a budget to include universal school meals; extension of post-partum MaineCare coverage to 12 months; and expansion of Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Charles Mugabe, Emerging Leader. Mr. Mugabe serves as the Program Co-Director of Refugee and Immigration Services at Catholic Charities of Maine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he coordinated a coalition of organizations to help provide COVID-19 social service support for members of Maine’s immigrant communities undergoing isolation and quarantine. More recently, Mr. Mugabe worked to help resettle Afghan refugees arriving in Maine, providing connection and support for housing, food, and benefits. Mr. Mugabe uses his personal experience immigrating to the U.S., to support refugees and asylum seekers in Maine.
Maine School Nutrition Association (MSNA), Organization Award. With over 300 members, MSNA represents school nutrition professionals statewide. Their purpose is to provide healthy meals and promote nutrition education to Maine’s school children to prepare them to succeed. These unsung heroes do the important work of quietly feeding 170,000 Maine kids every day at school, often a child’s most reliable source of nutrition. During the pandemic, school nutrition professionals across Maine went the extra mile by adapting and coordinating meal pickups and bus delivery, to ensure children still had access to school meals.
Spencer McCormick, Individual Award. Mr. McCormick grew up in the small town of Robbinston, raised to value community and volunteerism, while also witnessing the impact of substance abuse and mental health issues on young adults in the community. As a leader of the Calais Skatepark Committee, he has helped to develop a positive, safe, and active place for youth in the greater western-Washington County region. In addition to providing a space for children to advance their skate skills, he works to increase suicide awareness and to stress the importance of social and emotional health. Mr. McCormick’s love of his community is evident through the time and energy he volunteers with youth at the Skatepark, as a member of the Calais Downtown Revitalization Coalition, as a high school wrestling coach, and as a guide for outdoor recreation experiences for students.
Zubeyda Shute, Youth Award. Ms. Shute has been a youth leader of the Young People’s Caucus for the past three years. She is an alumnus of Westbrook High School, and a current college student. This past summer she worked across Young People’s Caucus and Gateway to Opportunity, to create a summer internship with the University of Southern Maine’s WMPG radio to create podcasts and digital stories to amplify youth voice and social change. She has continued to function as a mentor to new members of the Young People’s Caucus. Ms. Shute centers her work and her scholarship on racial justice, restorative justice, and women’s rights.
The awards will be presented at MCA’s annual Champions for Children event, at Maple Hill Farm, on Thursday, December 1st, 2022. The program will run from 9am-11am. Breakfast will be served. Tickets can be purchased here. We hope to see you there!
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