During their recent celebration of community, Valley Grange named Roger Ricker Community Citizen of the Year. Roger passed away last December but left behind a legacy of constant and lifelong support for his community.

After honoring Roger, Valley Grange Program Director Walter Boomsma challenged attendees to consider the impact of spending just five minutes a day in support of their communities. A five-minute video provided examples of the Guilford Grange’s programs and supporters. Boomsma noted, “If you buy a raffle ticket from us, you’re also buying a dictionary for a third grader.”

“We are restarting some of our programs suspended due to COVID. You don’t have to be a member to help and support us. When we asked people to ‘Sock it to us’ with donations to help provide socks to kids throughout the county, we received support from as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia.”

He also pointed out that five minutes a day isn’t much. “But it adds up. If there are 2,000 people in your community and just half (we’ll excuse young kids and people over 80) of them give five minutes per day, that equates to having nearly thirteen people working full time, making your community stronger. Based on the average salary in Maine, that’s worth over $700,000 to your community. Just five minutes every day. Of course, the ultimate value is not in dollars and cents. It’s in the difference you will make in individual’s lives.”

Just Five Minutes.