Spruce Run leaps halfway to fund-raising goal

ORONO – Only five months into its campaign drive, Spruce Run already has raised more than half of its campaign goal.

The fund drive, begun in August, already has brought in $252,000 of the organization’s $500,000 goal, campaign staff member Karen Martin said Thursday.

“We have every expectation of meeting our goal,” Martin said.

Spruce Run is a private, nonprofit organization that serves people affected by domestic abuse. The Bangor-based group, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, works to end personal, institutional and cultural violence.

Spruce Run staff members and volunteers met at the University of Maine’s Buchanan Alumni House on Thursday evening for the organization’s 2003 annual meeting.

In 2003, the organization provided support and education to 260 groups, supplied emergency shelter to 111 individuals and served 1,139 individuals through its hot-line response and advocacy program.

Sen. Mary Cathcart was the keynote speaker and spoke about the importance of honoring community partners. She also touched on the history of Spruce Run, of which she has been a part almost since its beginning in the late 1970s.

“It’s just so wonderful to have this huge, supportive community that we have now,” Cathcart said. She recalled times when law enforcement agencies and the district attorney weren’t as cooperative or understanding about domestic violence issues.

“Things are just totally different than they were 20 years ago,” she said.

It’s those changes and the outstanding work that Spruce Run has done for the community over the years that earned them this year’s WLBZ-TV and United Way of Eastern Maine “2 Those Who Care” agency distinction award.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, honors were bestowed on two Spruce Run staff members who helped bring about some of the changes Cathcart recalled.

Ann Schonberger, who has been a Spruce Run volunteer for more than 25 years, and Sue Bradford, a 30-year staff member, were recognized by their peers with induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Both women were characterized by Spruce Run’s Community Response Coordinator Francine Stark as living out Spruce Run’s mission to empower women.

“Just because the laws changed in ’79 and ’80 didn’t really mean a damn thing,” Stark said. “Without the legacy and very difficult work of [Schonberger, Bradford, and Cathcart] it wouldn’t have worked.”