Weekend Voices 5/23/09

Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Contributors: Matt Murphy, Meredith DeFrancesco

A show in honor of everyone engaged in the truly grassroots, revolutionary act of growing food for themselves and their community, here in Maine and elsewhere.

Segment 1: Eliot Coleman, from the Four Season Farm in Harborside, speaking at the 2009 HOPE festival, sponsored by the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, in April 2009. Coleman is the author of several books and articles including The New Organic Grower , Four Season Harvest and the Winter Harvest Manual. His speech was recorded by Matt Murphy. FMI: www.fourseasonfarm.com

Segment 2: Meredith DeFrancesco talks with Florence Reed and Nana Mensah of Sustainable Harvest International, based in Surry, Maine. SHI provides farming families in Central America with the training and tools to overcome poverty while restoring tropical forests. Florence Reed is the founder and President of Sustainable Harvest International, and Nana Mensah is the Country Director for SHI in Belize. They spoke with Meredith DeFrancesco here at WERU earlier this spring. FMI: www.sustainableharvest.org

Talk of the Towns 5/22/09

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Topic: Nimble Non-Profits – Strategies in the face of the downturn
What do we know about the non-profit sector in Maine? What do we know about how non-profits are faring as a result of the recession? Erosion of Investments and reserves? Donations to organizations? Escalation of need for community services they provide? How are non-profit leaders coping with these challenges? Are there some “best practices” as non-profits adapt (stay nimble) for the long run? What challenges and opportunities do funders share as they work with non-profits?

Guests: Meredith Jones, President, Maine Community Foundation; Elizabeth Banwell, Director of External Affairs, Maine Association of Non-Profits; Kim Harty, Mount Desert Island YMCA; Mary Laury, Schoodic Arts for All