CMMC nursing education fund is May Hannaford Helps reusable bag program beneficiary

LEWISTON — A fund that helps students attain a nursing degree at Central Maine Medical Center has been selected by Hannaford management and employees as their charity of choice for May’s Hannaford Helps reusable bag program. The program will donate a dollar to the hospital for every blue Hannaford Helps reusable bag with the good karma message that’s bought at the 692 Sabattus St. supermarket in May. The money will benefit the Gard W. Twaddle Nurses Endowment Fund, according to a news release. The fund provides financial aid to nursing students at Maine College of Health Professions at CMMC. Central Maine Medical Center has a goal of raising $500 to $750 or more during the month of May as a beneficiary of the program.

“We are excited and honored to be selected as the recipient of this great fundraiser,” said Monika Bissell, president of MCHP. “Purchases of these bags not only benefit our environment by reducing the use of plastic bags, but the donations resulting from the purchase will make a real difference for students who are in need of financial assistance in pursuing their nursing education at the college.”

The Gard W. Twaddle Nurses Endowment Fund, established in 1954, was named after a community physician who practiced at Central Maine General Hospital for 44 years. Twaddle was known for his generosity, and many in Lewiston/Auburn remember his “G.I. Plan,” where he never charged for delivering a child or ministering to the family of anyone who was in the service, the release said. The trust fund in his name was established for the purpose of providing financial assistance to student nurses at the hospital’s nursing college.

Maine College of Health Professions is the only hospital-affiliated college in Maine. It was founded in 1891 as the Central Maine General Hospital Training School, and has since evolved to offer degrees in nursing, radiologic technology, and nuclear medicine, as well as programs in C.N.A., computed tomography and phlebotomy.

For more information on the Hannaford Helps reusable bag program, visit hannaford.bags4mycause.com or facebook.com/hhbagprogram.