Avangrid Foundation jumpstarts Maine State Museum campaign

Courtesy / Avangrid Foundation During a recent tour of the Maine State Museum, attendees from the museum, Avangrid Foundation and Central Maine Power celebrated Avangrid Foundation's donation of $100,000 toward the museum's planned Education Center. Pictured left to right: Jon Doyle, chairman, Maine State Museum Commission; Jennifer Dube-Works, director, Friends of the Maine State Museum; Joel Harrington, manager, Government and Community Relations, CMP; Joanna Torow, chief educator, Maine State Museum; Nicole Licata Grant, director, Avangrid Foundation; Paula Work, curator, natural sciences, Maine State Museum; and Bernard Fishman, director, Maine State Museum.

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By Staff

The Avangrid Foundation, the philanthropic organization of Central Maine Power’s parent company, pledged $100,000 to the Maine State Museum’s fundraising campaign to build an education center at its facility in Augusta.

The planned education center will include an Avangrid Foundation “Energy Zone” with the addition of “science spots” throughout the museum. Among the goals of the new facility is to encourage intellectual growth for youngsters and other visitors through the application of STEM-based learning (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

“Promoting education for students of all ages — particularly STEM-based knowledge — is one focus for our charitable giving and community involvement,” Robert Kump, president of the Avangrid Foundation, said in a news release. “We are confident that the museum’s new education center will inspire young visitors to broaden their horizons and advance their knowledge of these important topics.”

During a tour of the museum on April 28, Avangrid Foundation Director Nicole Licata Grant noted its value to the community.

“The Maine State Museum is a local treasure for our customers, the community in Maine, and all who visit,” said Licata Grant. “We are proud to invest in the Energy Zone and Education Center, which will engage visitors in new and important ways.”

The Avangrid Foundation’s support of the Maine State Museum is one of many education-based funding initiatives by the Avangrid Foundation. The foundation also funds scholarship programs for students pursuing master’s studies in energy and/or the environment in universities across the United States and in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Avangrid (NYSE: AGR) is the parent company of Central Maine Power and Maine Natural Gas in Maine; six other utilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York; and Avangrid Renewables, the second-largest wind energy company in the United States.