Recognition
Orthopedic surgeon and Falmouth resident Thomas F. Murray Jr., MD, is the recipient of the 2020 Maine Athletic Trainer Association Service Award. The MATA Service Award annually recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the profession of athletic training in Maine.
Murray
Murray is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery. He joined Spectrum Orthopaedics – which includes OA Centers for Orthopaedics in Portland – in 1999. Murray is also chairman of the department of surgery at Mercy Hospital-Northern Light Healthcare specializing in sports medicine, shoulder and knee surgery.
Kristen Bailey, vice president of MATA, said the award is given to a person who has “displayed a dedication to advancing, promoting and championing the efforts of MATA and its members.” Award recipients are individuals outside the athletic trainer field who have made significant efforts to advance the profession.
Murray was nominated by Lisa Mims, athletic trainer for the Cape Elizabeth school department, and received an additional letter of support from John Ryan, certified athletic trainer for South Portland schools.
Hires, promotions, appointments
Lewis
The Rev. Kenneth I. Lewis Jr., senior pastor at Green Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Portland, has been appointed by Gov. Janet Mills as one of her two representatives to the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Maine Tribal Populations. The announcement follows the governor’s decision to dedicate $50,000 in funding from the Governor’s Contingent Account to support the work of the commission. The governor hopes the commission will help us more fully understand racial disparities in Maine and how they might be addressed.
“I am grateful to Gov. Mills for this appointment and opportunity to serve,” Lewis said. “I look forward to the critical work of this commission to promote and develop equitable opportunities for Maine’s Black, Indigenous and people of color.”
Chop
Chris Chop is joining the Greater Portland Council of Governments as the agency’s transportation director. He will work closely with cities, towns, transit agencies and state and federal partners to improve multimodal transportation in the region and to allocate $26 million in annual funding for road, sidewalk, bike and public transportation projects.
“It’s a huge challenge because we’re trying to prioritize investments across various modes of transportation at a time of tremendous uncertainty,” Chop said. “But I’m ready to take on this challenge with the support of a great team at GPCOG.”
Since 2018, Chop, who lives in Portland, was the Transportation Demand Management Program manager for Maine Medical Center, where he rebranded and reinvigorated the hospital’s alternative commuting program and helped launch a free bus program for 12,000 employees.
Town & Country Federal Credit Union has been named by Forbes as one of the best-in-state credit unions, the second time in three years that the credit union has made the prestigious list. Nearly 25,000 customers in the U.S. were surveyed for their opinions on their current and former banking relationships. According to Forbes, of the 5,236 credit unions nationwide, only 182 made the list.
Granted
Full Plates Full Potential, a Maine-based nonprofit working to end child hunger, announced a $25,000 donation from Brookfield Renewable. The donation will bolster the Full Plates Summer Meal Emergency Fund.
Hannaford Supermarkets has donated $250,000 to support farms in New England and New York impacted by the global health pandemic via American Farmland Trust grant program, including 100 Maine farms.
Bowdoin College is among six organizations that will benefit from grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to help cultural institutions in Maine. The CARES Act funding supports essential operations and job preservation and the $200,000 grant will retain four visiting faculty to facilitate smaller class sizes in “To Serve the Common Good: Strengthening Humanities Instruction in a Time of Change” project this fall.
The Maine Women’s Fund announces annual grant funding totaling $138,975 to 16 nonprofits dedicated to transforming the lives of women and girls. Among the recipients is MaineTransNet, which will address hostile social and political attacks that leave trans people hurt and isolated; this grant will support its goal of ensuring one support program monthly in all 16 of Maine’s counties.
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