Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund Newsletter (Fall 2023)

It was a year ago in November that Mark’s parents moved to Central Virginia. Perhaps since Mark was born in Indiana, moved to Maine when he was three, and then lived in Los Angeles for a period, while walking across America in 81 days in 2010, before “settling down” in Providence, his parents might be channeling some of the wanderlust that led to his final walk. Whatever it is, we are now in a new part of the country.Since the rest of our board: Paul Scalzone, along with Joann and JT Bisson, are back in Maine, our board process has migrated to Microsoft Teams for our planning get-togethers. But like everyone who got used to technology for converging during COVID, online meetings work just fine and have helped us through another year of board activity. Despite our board now being near (and far), we’ve continued honoring the mission we established upon founding—funding important community projects that help raise awareness about the things Mark was passionate about: the environment, promoting social justice, and involving those under-served in their respective communities.

What we’ve come to recognize is that our work and contributions follow a pattern that tracks the seasons of the calendar year. First, we’ve continued our partnership with Growing to Give, early in the new year. This will be our sixth year working alongside this great organization that provides healthy organic food to those in need, while utilizing climate-friendly and regenerative farming practices.

Once more in 2023, we offered $1,000 scholarships to three Greely High School graduates during graduation season in May. This year, our recipients were Cassidy Dean, Devin Gifford, and Edward Conway.

[photos for two of the Mark Baumer Greely Memorial Scholarship for Student Athletes: Top: Cassidy Dean Bottom: Edward Conway.]

We’d donated to ReTreeUS in the past and in 2023. We are excited to once more make a gift that contributes to their work of planting orchards in schools and offering their terrific educational programming to public school students about environmental stewardship.

Mark loved the outdoors and nature. Unfortunately, far too many children and young adults are fixated on screens and are not accessing the wonders around them.

Continuing our partnership with Maine-based Teens to Trails and their mission of offering trips and programs for teenagers that aid in connection with their peers and self-discovery aided by the natural world meshes so well with Mark’s passion for the Earth. They are active during the spring and fall portions of the school year.

For the first time, our board offered a young writer the opportunity to spend an intensive week of writing on the beautiful outer cape of Massachusetts during the spring of 2023.

The Mark Baumer Writing Residency for Young Writers provided Adrian Shirk with a week at a tiny house cabin in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. This was made possible by the generosity of Mark’s Brown MFA friend, Susannah Fulcher, and her husband. Susannah and Russell are owners of Sunshine House B & B and they  provided quiet seclusion to a talented writer and access to the beaches, ponds, woods and hiking trails nearby.

[Writer Adrian Shirk, in Wellfleet, MA]

Our board participated in Earth Day 2023 in ways that Mark would have appreciated, like picking up trash.

[Treasurer Paul Scalzone, working along Maine’s coastline in Old Orchard Beach]

[Board members Joann and JT Bisson walking one of the backroads where they live in Maine’s Western Mountains, gathering and removing debris.]

Nonprofit boards invest their time in things that align (and sometimes don’t) with their own values. As Mark’s parents, we’re grateful for the awesome board we have and the work they do to continue keeping Mark’s memory and passion plugged-into our world. Periodically, we’ll highlight one of our board members, offering their own perspective on why they are involved with the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund.

This newsletter, it’s our Vice President, Joann Bisson.

Hi! I am Joann Bisson, currently serving as the Vice Chairperson on the MBSF Board. Most significantly, I am Mark’s cousin. We grew up living next door to one another. Although we were a few grades apart in school, Mark and I still saw each other often and remained close. In 2020, when I assumed a role on the MBSF Board, it was a privilege to become a custodian of Mark’s memory and to carry on his work. Simultaneously, it presented a challenge, given that some of Mark’s areas of interest and fervor differed from my own. It is imperative to acknowledge that this fund is dedicated to honoring his memory, not my personal interests.

Routinely the Board reviews the fund’s mission statement, which articulates its fundamental purpose: The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund exists to fund important community projects that raise awareness about the environment, promote social justice, as well as involving under-served populations directly in renewing their communities. This statement serves as my compass when deliberating on causes and initiatives to endorse.

I extend a request to all those who shared educational, athletic, professional, activist, or recreational experiences with Mark. Kindly spare a moment to apprise me and the Board of noteworthy occurrences. We are enthusiastic about disseminating information on social media regarding events and initiatives that align with Mark’s values. Furthermore, we encourage non-profit organizations to submit grant applications.

If you are inclined to offer your services, we currently have a need for individuals to post on social media and to assist in redesigning the website. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact us, sharing your reminiscences and suggestions for carrying on Mark’s positive influence in this world.

Thank you, Joann!

As we roll towards the end of 2023, we’d ask that you consider making a contribution to the work we do honoring Mark’s memory and continuing his legacy. One way in November that you could do that would be on Giving Tuesday (following Thanksgiving).

Giving Tuesday is an international day of charitable giving that launches the Christmas shopping season and is held on the Tuesday following Black Friday and always falls between November 27 and December 3. Giving Tuesday would be a great time to make a donation to the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund so that we can continue to walk Mark’s concerns about the planet and sustainability, forward. You can do that here.

We wish all friends and supporters of the Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund a blessed holiday season and joy and prosperity in 2024.

The Mark Baumer Sustainability Fund exists to fund important community projects that raise awareness about the environment, promote social justice, as well as involving under-served populations directly in renewing their communities.