Here at www.MELiving.com, we love helping to spread the word about great things to see and do in Maine. When we heard about the Hospitality for Habitat program, we just had to tell you about it. Here's how it works: If you visit a participating Maine inn or B&B between May 1 and May 18 and you bring a $25 check made out to Habitat for Humanity, you could pay half price for the room. What a wonderful excuse for a Maine getaway! Bring your spouse for a romantic weekend, or gather your siblings and treat Mom to a memorable Mother's Day. However you decide to spend your time in Maine, you'll feel good knowing you've helped to make a difference... and you won't break the bank, either.
The idea to raise money for Habitat for Humanity by teaming up with Maine Inns and B&Bs came from Marian Burns, owner of the Mira Monte Inn in Bar Harbor. Wanting to help out Habitat for Humanity Burns was inspired by a previously successful fundraiser to save the windows of St.Saviour's Episcopal Church. She had written to her UMO women college classmates and offered them a discount if they showed up with a $25 check to the St.Saviour's Window fund. The money she was able to raise helped to save the beautiful Tiffany windows. Burns thought that the same offer could be made for donations to Habitat for Humanity and if other inns participated then they could really help Maine's Habitat for Humanity chapters. So, she went to her fellow Board Members 
at the Maine Inkeeper's Association to request their support. They agreed that it was a wonderful idea and that it would help everyone. May was ideal since it was a slow tourist month and the rooms would be available. The fundraiser would help bring people to Maine during a slow month, enable locals to try out some of the nearby Inns and B&Bs at an affordable price and Habitat for Humanity gets a great boost. Everyone wins!
When the Hospitality for Humanity program began in 2004, it raised over two thousand dollars for Habitat for Humanity. The total amount raised almost doubled the following year, and we hope that with your help, it will double again. The 2005 award-winning Harraseeket Inn in Freeport raised the most money. Nancy Gray, the innkeeper, was surprised and touched when people who had heard about the program brought in a donation without even staying at the inn. "It tells you there are some swell people in the world still," says Nancy Gray, who runs the inn with her family.
The donations collected at all the inns are divided among the local chapters of Habitat for Humanity, a well-known organization that aims to end the cycle of poverty by helping needy families afford safe, respectable housing. Habitat and its affiliates have built homes for more than one million people around the world. The homes are built with donated supplies and volunteer labor, and homeowners pay no interest on their mortgages. In return, they must spend hundreds of hours working on their houses. Their mortgage payments help the next group of Habitat families achieve their dream of home ownership. Greg Dugal of the Maine Innkeepers' Association says he'd love to see Hospitality for Habitat raise $10,000 
or more so that the donation each chapter received would be enough to buy appliances or another significant piece of a home.
The following properties are participating in the Hospitality for Habitat program this year. The offer does not necessarily apply to all rooms or all nights, so please ask the innkeepers about any restrictions. So have a great time, get a great deal, and help a great cause all at the same time!
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