What We Fund
We award grants to Maine-based nonprofits who are working to advance Human Wholeness through our primary focus areas of movement and nourishment.
Our Impact Over the Past 5 years
Total Grants Awarded
Grant Sizes
Type of Funding
Grants Total by Focus Area
Note: data is from 2018-2022 - this period marks the advent of Human Wholeness approach
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FEATURED MOVEMENT GRANTEE
Hirundo
With 7 miles of marked trails and easy access to Pushaw Stream, the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge provides opportunities for folks to walk in the peace of the natural environment or to paddle the stream in our boats or their own. The past five years have been a time of rapid change for Hirundo. With the support of the Quimby Family Foundation, we were able to improve public access with more parking and a re-engineered access road. We were also able to expand staffing, environmental educational programming, and facilities that serve the public.
Mission
To enjoy, understand and protect Hirundo's natural and cultural environment for the mutual well-being of our human and wildlife communities.
In short: Enjoy, Learn, Protect
Vision
Everyone living in balance with nature.
Values
We believe that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between the people and the natural communities in which they live.
We believe that an understanding of nature stimulates an active involvement in stewardship.
We believe that all people regardless of origin, age, abilities, or financial resources can benefit from an intimate association with nature.
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FEATURED MOVEMENT GRANTEE
Western Foothills Land Trust
Support from the Quimby Family Foundation has allowed us to successfully navigate the acquisition of additional forests in the Sebago Lake watershed for nature's benefit, gentle recreation, and the protection of Portland's source drinking water supply. The Quimby Family Foundation has understood the importance of nature based education and community health and recreation. Evidence of this work is in 212 acres of reconnected farm and forestlands that now support a community Nordic ski program and a nature based educational program offered in partnership with our school district and our health care community at Roberts Farm Preserve. All those Roberts Farm assets are now linked to downtown Norway by two new trails supporting our Main Street businesses and providing visitors and residents with a restorative walk through the woods.
Mission
Western Foothills Land Trust is dedicated to the conservation and protection of native ecosystems, farm and forestlands, watersheds, and scenic landscapes for the benefit of wild and human communities in western Maine.
Our “Why?”
The Western Foothills Land Trust works to reunite fragmented habitats, nurture connections, and provide opportunities for restoring relationships with Land.
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FEATURED NOURISHMENT GRANTEE
ReTreeUS
QFF appreciated the vision of ReTreeUS in 2015 when our programming was just getting started and provided funding that enabled the program to truly launch to the next level. The consistent operational support over the years has enabled us to plant 78 educational orchards, representing 1,400 fruit and nut trees that reach more than 22,000 people annually. These numbers will continue to grow over the years, accompanied by abundant harvests. We honestly could not have gotten where we are now as an organization without QFF's consistent belief in our organization and ongoing support. This partnership has advanced our shared mission of connecting people to the Earth and nourishing communities in ways that will sustain physical, spiritual and environmental health.
Mission
To educate generations of food growers, environmental stewards and community contributors through experiential education in orchards and gardens.
Vision
To live in an environmentally sustainable, socially just society.
Values
Experiential education in gardens and orchards provides young people with opportunities to make meaningful connections with the earth and other people.
Everyone should have access to healthy food.
Teaching someone to fish is more powerful than giving someone a fish.
Equipping communities with the capacity to grow food creates greater food security and environmental resilience.
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FEATURED NOURISHMENT GRANTEE
Alan Day Community Garden
Alan Day Community Garden shares the Quimby Family Foundation’s commitment to cultivating human wholeness through connection to place, community, and life-giving food. With support from the Quimby Family Foundation, we foster nourishing, place-based cycles in our community at our weekly farmers market, where neighbors gather to support local farms, share pay-what-you-can woodfired pizza, and listen and dance to live music. We work towards whole community health through our sliding-scale CSA, youth leadership programs, gardening workshops and cooking classes, and support system for new and experienced gardeners. Thanks to contributions from the Quimby Family Foundation, we excitedly anticipate welcoming community members to our new Food Center and community kitchen, where we will be able to foster human wholeness all year round.
Mission
We improve our community's health by providing opportunities to build relationships, learn, and grow food together.
Vision
Our community thrives because all people are valued and nourished through meaningful connections and healthy, affordable food.
Values
We value belonging, equity, continuous learning, relationship, collaboration, and sustainability.
Meet All of Our Grantees
Beyond Grantmaking
Over the past decade, informed by our grantees, foundation colleagues, board and staff, we have committed funding and leadership resources for the Maine nonprofit community outside our traditional grantmaking. As a small family foundation, we’ve found this to be a meaningful role we can play to reach more people and organizations throughout the state.
These activities were either suggested to us or initiated by foundation staff and are often collaborative. We enjoy exploring additional ways of providing support beyond grantmaking dollars, and invite you to reach out to us with interest in these ongoing initiatives below or ideas for something new.
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In 2015 and 2016, we hosted two workshops with Andy Goodman from the Goodman Center in California. These engaging workshops focused on nonprofit communications and storytelling and had approximately 300 attendees in each session. Seeing the enthusiasm and need for this type of work, we brainstormed providing ongoing communications support with two local communications professionals. In 2019 a pilot of BOOST launched. BOOST is a strategic storytelling special initiative for QFF grantees designed and led by Leah Hurley and Adam Burk to strengthen the impact of communications work by nonprofit teams.
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Maine GearShare began as an idea in 2017 when local outdoor-focused foundations had started recognizing a pattern of requests for gear and equipment to help connect more people to outdoor experiences and natural environments. Upon digging into the need further, many trip leading organizations identified that gear acquisition, inventorying, maintenance, and repair, played a major role in their operational costs and capabilities to extend services to more participants. This begged the question, could we - the trip leaders, outdoor brands and outdoor funders - collectively gather community input and design a better solution using the gear library concept?
We provided primary pilot funding, ongoing in-kind leadership and support bridging foundational connections for the emergent organization. Today, the mission of Maine GearShare is to provide outdoor gear and know-how through a collaborative, equity centered approach.
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After attending the Brower Youth Awards, a celebration of young environmental leaders in San Francisco, we started to think about what a Maine version of this could look like. We knew early on that the best approach would be to do this in collaboration with a nonprofit that already works with emerging environmental leaders and has the knowledge and experience in event planning.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine was a natural partner. Through their NRCM Rising group, they enthusiastically created and launched Maine’s first young environmental leaders award. Now known as The Brookie Awards, they “recognize the young and mighty individuals whose positive impact on Maine’s environment ripples beyond themselves, much like true brookies”. We have been the lead funder since inception and an advisor through early process development.
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We look for opportunities to engage with organizations that benefit the nonprofit community and to support their events, conferences, and workshops whenever possible. If you are organizing an event that you think would be a good fit with our focus, please email us.
Examples:
Maine Association of Nonprofits Opt-In Conference
People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors, Nature and Environment (PGM ONE)
Maine Conservation Voters Evening for the Environment
Children & Nature Network
Maine Food Convergence
Resources for Organizing and Social Change
Educator Renewal Retreats
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Pre-pandemic, we hosted professional development seminars. We are always on the lookout for standout thought leaders, from Maine and beyond, to facilitate engaging workshops at no cost to the nonprofit community. Please use email us to share any ideas that seem like a fit with our work.
Past presenters:
Moshe Cohen from the Negotiating table
Author Susan Howlett
Author Richard Louv
Andy Goodman from the Goodman Center
Gerry Tabio from Creative Resources Group
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We provide a limited number of conference and workshop stipends for our grantees to attend events that may otherwise be out of reach financially and align with our focus. We haven’t developed a formal process for this, so invite you to reach out if there is an opportunity you are exploring.
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We welcome our grantees to reach out with emergency, unexpected, urgent or emergent needs. While we don’t have a specific fund allocated for emergency funding, we have provided this type of funding in the past for hyper mission-aligned organizations or projects and encourage you to reach out to us.
