CycleBar + Tri for a Cure
At the heart of CycleBar is a passion for giving back to the community, and the studio’s CycleGives platform makes that easy by offering energetic indoor cycling rides for groups to help raise proceeds that benefit a selected cause. This unique form of cause marketing promotes health and wellness inside the studio, but CycleBar also gives back to the community by supporting the Maine Cancer Foundation’s annual Tri for a Cure.
The Tri for a Cure is near and dear to the heart of CycleBar Portland’s owner, Julie Marchese, because she’s also the triathlon’s founder and race director. “Getting involved with MCF began when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999, and myself in 2003,” explains Marchese. “The triathlon is all about hope—we celebrate survivorship and the lives of those that have been lost.” Summer 2024 will mark Marchese’s last year at the helm, but she still plans to stay involved with the organization that has given her—and others in the community—so much support. “I’m so glad that I have played a part in an event that has made such a difference for people with cancer in Maine,” Marchese says.
Lucy Tucker from Keller Williams Realty + Maine Behavioral Healthcare
“I believe it’s really important to give where you live,” explains Lucy Tucker of Keller Williams Realty. During her six-year tenure on the Falmouth School Board, Tucker saw firsthand the importance of mental health awareness in the community. “During my last year on the board, there were four suicides in Cumberland County. I said to myself, ‘This should not be happening,’” Tucker recalls. “Erasing the stigma around mental health is so important, especially in the vulnerable 14 to 28-year-old group. Children need to know that they’re important, that they’re needed, and that being unique is a gift.”
At the time, one of Tucker’s clients worked at Maine Behavioral Healthcare and introduced her to the organization, which is the mental health arm of the MaineHealth system. She quickly joined the development committee, was asked to serve on the board, and eventually joined the executive board. “When you get a physical, it shouldn’t just be about your physical body. MBH raises awareness about mental health, how important it is, and how it touches and impacts so many different parts of our lives,” says Tucker. “There isn’t one person in this world that isn’t touched by it.”
One of Tucker’s favorite parts about being involved with MBH is the variety of events the organization puts on to raise funds. “Our biggest fundraiser is Signs of Hope,” she says. “We dedicate the money raised each year toward a different cause under the MaineHealth umbrella, and we have a speaker who has been affected by the cause come talk to our audience. At this year’s event, a local woman named Joielle, who has been her family’s coordinator for various behavioral health issues for more than two decades, explained how her husband suffers from schizophrenia and her two daughters live with varying degrees of anxiety. “Joielle described her journey in very candid details that demonstrated the challenges she faced as a young mother with a growing family and dealing with her family members’ mental health issues, but also recognizing her own battles with PTSD from her personal upbringing,” explains Tucker. This year’s Signs of Hope event raised almost $180,000 to help provide care for people with complex behavioral problems across the state of Maine, regardless of their ability to pay.
Rytualist + Collect the Cotton + Girls on the Run
“As part of our mission, we wanted to give a portion of our profits to organizations that support the empowerment and self-care of women and girls,” explains Bonny Rollender, the founder of Rytualist Aesthetic Bar in Portland. “We understand that observers can view aesthetics and injectable cosmetic treatments as vanity, but we believe that everyone has their own sense of what constitutes self-care for them. Some people may prefer hiking, others yoga, meditation, or professional grade skincare treatments and pampering,” she says.
Rytualist works with a handful of nonprofit groups that focus on a commitment to self-care and empowering women by providing access to both products and support. Collect the Cotton is one of these organizations, created by Ashlie Morris to bring awareness to period poverty and the need for accessible period products within specific communities. To support Collect the Cotton’s local efforts, Rytualist hosts annual drives and awareness campaigns on period poverty and the need for free menstrual products to be made available to young girls and women.
Girls on the Run Maine, part of the national organization that helps girls and young women develop self-confidence and learn life skills in a collaborative environment, is another group Rytualist directly supports on a regular basis. Each year, the Rytualist team participates in the organization’s celebratory 5K and donates to their annual fundraiser. “This is another initiative that supports and builds the self-confidence, leadership, and physical and emotional strength of elementary and middle school girls,” explains Rollender. Rytualist is hoping to offer a course at Girls on the Run’s 2024 summer camp focused on body positivity and self-care, with fun activities like making their own basic skincare products to take home.
Two Lights Settlement Services + the Center for Grieving Children
Two Lights Settlement Services marketing director Jenilee Bryant, who has a background in social work, was serving on the board of the Center for Grieving Children when she decided to get her employer on board. “We feel very blessed being in the real estate community,” she says. “I believe in philanthropy and giving back, and I think it’s important to support the community however we can.”
Two Lights now acts as a corporate partner for the Center for Grieving Children, a nonprofit organization that provides a safe space, loving peer support, outreach, and education to grieving children, teens, young adults, families, and the community in Portland and Sanford. “The Center provides free counseling for grieving families, whether it’s children, parents, or teens, and they’re also involved in the school systems to provide services where needed,” explains Bryant. “I'm thankful there’s something like this available around here—grief isn’t talked about in a lot of families, and the grieving process looks different for everyone.”
Two Fat Cats Bakery + Baking That Matters
Started by Stacy Begin in 2020, the Baking That Matters initiative was developed to provide additional financial support to local non-profit organizations dedicated to uplifting and celebrating underrepresented voices in the Portland community. Two Fat Cats Bakery donates $2 of every Triple Berry Pie sale to a dedicated fund that is distributed to selected beneficiaries on a quarterly basis. This year, the bakery has donated to Creative Trails, an experiential community support program for adults with intellectual uniqueness; the Immigrant Welcome Center, which serves as a hub that helps strengthen Portland’s immigrant community through language acquisition, citizenship assistance, food security programs, business mentoring, and more; and the South Portland Food Cupboard, a group that provides groceries, donations, and other support to clients in the South Portland area.