Bryce & Riley Win Youth Philanthropy Award
At the beginning of April, Bryce and Riley Deshaies were honored at the AFP-NNE Spring Conference (Association of Fundraising Professionals Northern New England) as the recipients of the Demont Scholarship Award For Outstanding Youth Philanthropy.
"...since 2007 to award a $5,000 grant to an individual age 8 to 23 who demonstrates outstanding commitment to the community through direct financial support, development of charitable programs, volunteering, and leadership in philanthropy. This is not a community service award. Rather it is a publicly and professionally recognized honor for a young person who has both personally, and through inspiring others raised, a significant amount of charitable support for the development of an important service or initiative in Northern New England."
Since the ages of 3 and 1, Bryce and Riley Deshaies have been rallying the town of Parsonsfield and neighboring communities to raise money for Cans for a Cure. Before age 5, the brothers were making deliveries to the Maine Mall in a mini-van driven by their mother.
As support from the local community grew, West Baldwin-based excavation company P.Y. Estes & Son offered up their dump truck to store the bags of bottles & cans. If the boys could fill the truck, they could take it to South Portland for delivery. They filled it. That was in 2014, and now Clynk makes multiple trips per year to P.Y Estes & Son to empty the tractor-trailers that store the bags.
Each year, the boys collect around 300,000 bottles and cans. This coming year will be Bryce and Riley's 14th year of supporting Cans for a Cure, as they approach nearly $200,000 raised!
Congratulations, Bryce and Riley and thank you for all you do supporting Mainers who have been impacted by cancer!