EdGE is a little-known program of the Maine Seacoast Mission that in two years of existence has already made a difference in coastal Washington county.

It focuses on children in grades five to eight and works with parents, teachers, business and community leaders to provide in-school help and after-school and summer activities like a science night, a math night, family ice fishing, art and music. The idea is to open the children’s eyes to career and community opportunities and break the county’s cycle of poverty.

A survey of the program’s first year in the Harrington and Addison schools found that 77 percent looked forward to going to school, compared with only 45 percent in other schools. Finishing homework on time, trying new activities and feeling safe after school also showed dramatic improvement. Mathematics, reading comprehension and English/writing also showed gains. Some young troublemakers have turned their energies to productive personal and community activities.

Safety is a problem. Many of the students come from families afflicted with drug abuse and domestic violence. The ice fishing showed them that it can be an enjoyable family sport rather than a case of Dad sitting out on the ice in a bob house getting drunk and watching TV.

This past year, the program branched out to include the Cherryfield, Columbia Falls and Milbridge schools.

As for EdGE’s strange name, all caps except for a lower-case “d.” it stands for Ed Greaves Educational Centers.

Mr. Greaves, who was chairman of the Seacoast Mission and had a summer home in Addison, learned a few years ago that he had terminal cancer. A college classmate of his, Amos Hostetter Jr., a retired cable television executive and chairman of the Barr Foundation in Boston, offered to honor Mr. Greaves by endowing a faculty chair at either the Harvard Business School or Amherst College. Mr. Greaves said he would rather see something done for the children of Washington County. The result was a $3 million grant by the Barr Foundation, enough for 10 years of operation while the program seeks other sources for longer-term funding.

The children are more than just the beneficiaries of the EdGE program. They are also learning to help the community. The Partners in Philanthropy project, a partnership with the Maine Community Foundation, involves seventh- and eighth-graders from the Harrington and D.W. Merritt elementary schools. They have been studying community needs and providing small grants to community organizations from a starting stake of $5,000 from the foundation. They ask for grant requests, appraise them, issue the grants and monitor the use of the funds.

So successful has EdGE proved to be in its first two years that organizations from around the country have been coming for a look to see how this rural children’s program works. Once again, Maine takes the lead, with its poorest county providing a model for others.