Bar Harbor, Maine (December 30, 2025) – Bar Harbor Wealth Management, a subsidiary of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, has announced that, through the Hattie A. & Fred C. Lynam Trust, $136,000 has been awarded to 38 organizations serving the people of Mount Desert Island (MDI). The Lynam Trust, managed by Bar Harbor Wealth Management, was established in 1942 and awards grants annually to charitable, religious, and educational organizations located on MDI. Grant awards per organization typically range between $500 and $5,000.
Organizations receiving grants in 2025 included:
- Abbe Museum
- Acadia Senior College
- Acadian Youth Sports
- Alcyon Center
- Bar Harbor Congregational Church
- Bar Harbor Food Pantry
- Bar Harbor Historical Society, Inc.
- Birch Bay Retirement Village
- Cetos Research Organization
- Common Good Soup Kitchen
- Conners Emerson Elementary School
- Help-Portrait MDI
- Hulls Cove Neighborhood Association
- Island Connections
- Island Housing Trust
- Island Readers & Writers
- Jesup Memorial Library
- Kids’ Corner
- Ledgelawn Cemetery
- MDI Backpack Program
- MDI Community Campfire Coalition
- MDI Community Sailing Center
- MDI YMCA
- MDI YWCA
- Mount Desert Nursery School
- Mount Desert Nursing Association
- Mount Desert Summer Chorale
- Neighborhood House
- Northeast Harbor Library
- Open Table MDI
- Seal Cove Auto Museum
- Somesville Library Association
- Southwest Harbor Historical Society
- Southwest Harbor Public Library
- St. Saviour’s Parish
- Summer Festival of the Arts
- Wendell Gilley Museum
- Willowind Therapeutic Riding Center
The next annual grant application deadline will be September 15, 2026. Applications are reviewed by the Lynam Trust Grants Committee each November, and grants are awarded and distributed by December 31 of the same calendar year. Applicants must have their primary administrative office located on Mount Desert Island and serve the residents of MDI. Eligible organizations are encouraged to apply every year, whether or not a grant was awarded to them in a prior year. For additional information please visit www.lynamtrust.com.
In addition to the grant program, the Lynam Trust has awarded scholarships to graduating seniors of Mount Desert Island High School since 1942. These renewable awards are restricted to graduates of MDI High School who are residents of Mount Desert Island. Recipients must reapply each year. In 2025, $1,250 scholarships were awarded to 110 MDI High School graduates.
Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE American: BHB) is the parent company of its wholly owned subsidiary, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. Operating more than 60 locations across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, and has more than $4.5 billion in assets. As a leading Northern New England community bank, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust offers a full range of personal and business banking services, as well as wealth management services through its subsidiary Bar Harbor Wealth Management. For more information about Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, visit www.barharbor.bank or call 888-853-7100. Member FDIC.
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Pictured from left to right: Howie Montenko, President of Help Portrait MDI; Sherry Billings, Executive Director of Island Housing Trust; Vicky Smith, Co-Director of MDI Backpack Program; Robert Benson, Cofounder of MDI Backpack Program; Ella Wallace, Executive Director of Mount Desert Nursery School; Melanie Bowden, VP, Senior Wealth Manager at Bar Harbor Wealth Management; Lisa Parson, SVP, Regional Market Manager at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and Lynam Trust Grant Committee Member; and Heather Jones, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Board Member and Lynam Trust Grant Committee Member.