UMaine Annual Commemorative Ornament Program Benefits Student Organizations
Contact: Joe Carr, University Relations, (207) 581-3571, joe.carr@umit.maine.edu
Richard Young, University Bookstore, (207) 581-4184, ryoung@umerl.maine.edu
ORONO — Every year, the University Bookstore—the University of Maine’s official bookstore—commissions the design of a UMaine ornament. Each edition is carefully crafted of the finest materials and depicts a university landmark or symbol. This year the bookstore offers a golden, three-dimensional UMaine Snowflake Orbit with many of the familiar Maine logos including the bear head, the paw, Go Blue! and the big M.
However, the real beauty of the ornament lies in how it benefits others. Through its annual commemorative ornament program, the University Bookstore allocates 100 percent of the proceeds from ornament sales to a UMaine student organization that helps others. This year’s selected beneficiary is the Habitat UMaine student group.
While the organization is based on campus, its impact is felt throughout the Bangor area. The Habitat UMaine group represents students from across the campus who have created a consortium to help local people with decent, affordable housing. They completed a “Snow Place Like Home” sleep-out, which raised money with students sleeping outside on the UMaine Mall for three nights last February to raise awareness of sub-standard housing in the greater Bangor area. The group works closely with the Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Bangor Area in fundraising for future homes and volunteering at the ReStore in Holden. Habitat UMaine also is affiliated with the MBS Corps, the Maine Business School’s community outreach organization.
Richard Young, UMaine’s director of Auxiliary Services, noted that stories like these that get to the heart of the ornament program, which began in 2003.
“The students in these organizations dedicate their energy and talent to making a difference,” Young says. “We at the University Bookstore are honored to recognize their important work through the ornament program. We are a student-focused organization, and this initiative is a special way that we can give back. It gives us great pleasure to honor student groups like Habitat UMaine who try to make the lives better for those who need a little bit of help.”
The 2010 ornament, as well as the complete collection, is available at the University Bookstore, located on the lower level of Memorial Union on the University of Maine campus. Ornaments are also available through the University Bookstore website at www.bookstore.umaine.edu.
This year’s ornament is the eighth in the series. Previous beneficiary organizations have included Alternative Spring Break, Gamma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Phi Omega, Rotaract, Colleges Against Cancer, the Central American Service Association and Engineers without Borders.
High-resolution images of the new and previous ornaments are available upon request. Please contact Tom Diaz, Auxiliary Services marketing coordinator, at (207) 581-4350 or tdiaz@umerl.maine.edu.