Exploration is vital to rural youth today. Through it, young people can begin to imagine and shape their lives in the future. 

Following the book’s publication, my husband and I founded the Downeast Exploration Fund to support experiences beyond the classroom and celebrate the continued strength and resilience of the young people of Maine’s Downeast region. The book’s five young women played a central role in developing the fund’s objective and defining its scope: to help expand opportunities beyond the classroom for other Downeast kids.

Launched in March 2022, the Exploration Fund provides financial support to eligible applicants who wish to explore their passions and engage in pursuits not otherwise available to them. The Fund will award up to $5,000 annually to pay for participation in a range of activities, such as camps, outdoor learning experiences, lessons in music and the arts, sports, and equestrian pursuits.  

Administered by the nonprofit Maine Seacoast Mission, the Fund honors the leadership, creativity, intellectual curiosity, and passion for a range of pursuits exemplified by the five remarkable young women portrayed in the book. In Downeast, I wrote of game changers – those individuals and organizations who are indelibly linked to the region through hard work and dedication. One of those game changers is the Seacoast Mission. The organization’s long-held ties and experience with education in Downeast Maine make it the perfect place to house the Exploration Fund.

Of the fund, Lanie Perry, depicted under the pseudonym McKenna Holt in the book, said, “We recognized that so many kids who want to pursue their dreams are set back by financial challenges as well as by other issues. Through the Fund, we wanted to see Downeast youth push for their dreams and start out on the right foot.”

Depicted under the pseudonym of Josie Dekker, Sophia DeSchiffart said, “Gigi was hoping to set up a scholarship fund and she asked us to help design it. We considered whether the Fund should be for young women only, all students Downeast, those at a certain high school, or for everyone. Or should it be a college scholarship? If you make a scholarship for college readiness, then it excludes the many students who don’t pursue that path. The Downeast region is a low-income area. Even if your family can put food on the table or pay the heating bill, they may not be able to spend $300 on a camera if a child is interested in learning photography.”

And Kelli Kennedy, depicted as Audrey Barton in the book, added, “I guess it’s no secret that there are children and teens and people Downeast who struggle with financial well-being. I was very fortunate in what I was able to do as a child. My family could support me to play basketball year-round and that set me up for so many things in life including life lessons. My hope is that others can experience the same. This scholarship can help push them toward that.”

Any student in grades 6 through 12, including rising 6th graders and just-graduated seniors, within the Mission’s service areas, may apply for an award. For more information about the Maine Seacoast Mission, please visit https://www.seacoastmission.org/