West Kennebec Lakes Community Broadband Association recently received a grant to complete broadband planning project and present findings by hosting two community-wide meetings in all six member towns
The Maine Community Foundation’s Community Broadband Grant Program has awarded $100,364 in grants to nine communities across Maine. The program aims to increase the number of Maine people, communities and businesses with access to high-speed internet service and improve skills, knowledge, and opportunity to effectively use the technology.
The West Kennebec Lakes association includes Readfield, Fayette, Vienna, Leeds, Mount Vernon and Wayne.
Other grantees include the city of Portland, to establish Wi-Fi services for low-income homeless families in emergency shelter which primarily serves asylum-seeking families, and Island Commons Resource Center, Chebeague Island, to provide a high-speed internet connection to the Island Commons for use by staff, caregivers, visiting specialists, residents and the community.
“Increasingly, quality of life — and communication — for Maine people, communities, and businesses is improved by the ability to access reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” said Maggie Drummond-Bahl, MaineCF senior program officer. “We are proud to be one of many partners helping to boost local and regional efforts to improve connectivity across Maine.”
A complete list of 2019 grantees is available at www.mainecf.org; the deadline for applications will be Oct. 15.
PHOTO: Vienna is one of six towns in the West Kennebec Lakes Broadband Association to get a grant to help increase internet access. (Maureen Milliken photo)
