BANGOR – The Acadia Health Education Coalition was awarded a $50,000 grant by the Wal-Mart Foundation. The funds will be used to support the Maine Young Partners for Health Careers initiative, an effort to increase awareness of health care careers in Maine.

The program will promote www.MaineHealthCareers.com, which links youths to educational and career opportunities in health care through a personalized plan.

“This is truly a ‘grow our own’ approach to the problem of recruitment and retention of health care workers in Maine,” said Nurse Carolyn Dorrity, executive director of Acadia Health Education Coalition. “Funding from Wal-Mart will make this project possible and the youth of Maine’s most rural and underserved areas will be the beneficiaries.”

Founded in 1984, the coalition is a grassroots educational organization dedicated to recruitment and retention of Maine health care professionals and clinical training for primary care health professionals in rural and underserved areas of Maine. Serving rural areas in the Aroostook, Down East, and Penquis regions, the coalition provides clinical training development, multifaceted career exploration curricula and innovative use of technology to promote education and career development to assist the underserved at a reduced cost or free of charge.

Acadia programs include clinical rotation development and implementation for medical and allied health students; “Kids into Health Careers” presentations and curricula for elementary and secondary students throughout Maine; and activity development for high school health occupations clubs and career development programs with the universities and colleges in Maine.

The Acadia Health Education Coalition consists of a central office in Bangor and two regional offices in Presque Isle and Oquossoc. The organization also administers Maine’s only AIDS Education and Training Center in Bangor.

The grant was made possible through the Wal-Mart Foundation’s State Giving Program. Through the program, the Wal-Mart Foundation awards grants at the state and regional levels to support unmet needs in areas of focus such as education, job skills training, environmental sustainability and health. For more information, visit www.walmartstores.com.