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More than a dozen nonprofits present funding requests at Ellsworth budget workshop
Summary
At a budget workshop, nonprofits including Loaves and Fishes, Down East Transportation, WIC, Down East Wood Bank, hospice volunteers, SPCA, and dozens of others presented funding requests and service summaries; staff mostly recommended maintenance‑level funding and logged follow‑up items.
The council’s external organizations portion of the budget workshop featured presentations from a broad set of nonprofits seeking municipal support for operating and program costs.
Loaves and Fishes asked for an increase to cover rising food costs and to sustain the Everybody Eats hot‑meal program; board member Georgian Sneed said 1,668 Ellsworth residents from 726 households made about 7,000 pantry visits in 2025. The WIC program requested $11,000 (calculated at $50 per participant for 220 Ellsworth residents served in 2025) to support food packages, breast‑pump loans and maternal mental‑health referrals. Friends in Action requested $10,000 to support senior services run out of the Moore Center and the subcommittee recommended $10,000.
Down East Transportation described fixed‑route service connecting Ellsworth, Bangor and Bar Harbor and a local fixed route; staff noted Ellsworth’s relatively high ridership and recommended continuing support at $2,500. The Down East Wood Bank asked for $1,250 (subcommittee proposed $1,500) to buy logs and distribute winter fuel to residents; Tom Matthews said his group had more than doubled the number of Ellsworth families served this winter.
Other presenters included the Ellsworth Concert Band (level funding $1,400), the Ellsworth Music Institute (recommended to stay at $5,000), the Grand performing arts center (request $35,000; subcommittee and manager recommended $35,000), Woodlon (trails and education), hospice volunteers (requested $2,000), SPCA (requested $2,500), Eastern Area Agency on Aging (requested $1,500, with plans for an access center), Garden Club, snowmobile club (reimbursement‑linked request roughly matching state registration reimbursements), and several others. Staff noted some spreadsheet formula errors and said they will correct line items and reconcile prior‑year numbers before final votes.
Councilors asked follow‑up questions in several cases — for example, how Family’s First would use a large increase (the presentation was deferred for more information), how NextStep is used by the police department (police staff advocated strongly for NextStep), and how Community Action is reconciling DCP data. No final votes were taken; staff will return detailed line items and a change log as the budget process proceeds.
