2013 March Raffle Fundraiser

2013 March Raffle Fundraiser has begun. The winners are being posted daily on our Facebook page. We will post a complete list of winners on her website at the end of the drawing. A special thank you to all that helped make our fundraiser a success. Congratulations to the current winners and good luck to the others.

www.facebook.com/MarissaELloydSunshineFund

Distributes books for the 5th consecutive year.

In 2008 shortly after Marissa’s passing the fund was created and started with giving books with life lessons to Hilltop Elemenatary. Since 2008 we have expanded to 6 schools and have given hundreds of books, from the KISSING HAND SERIES written by Audrey Penn. We have been fortunate to have complete support from Mrs. Penn over the past few years. With her help the children receive an autograph book of their choice. The children are given order forms with a description of each book that they can choose from.

The board members then present each child his or her own book, that they themselves have chosen after hearing a brief presentation about the fund and our purpose. Lynn Greenier, school teacher and board member explains to the children that it’s important for them to speak up and use their voice if they feel they are being bullied, abused or neglected in anyway. She advises them to speak with a trusted adult, such as a parent, grandparent, school teacher, principle or whom ever else they feel they can trust and will help them.

March Raffle

Our March Raffle has come to end and was a huge success due to the wonderful community support. Congratulations to all those that won and thank you all, for your support! A special thanks to Deb Sutherland at Brambleberry Market for holding our daily raffles. The raffle not only helps us to continue our 2nd grade book project but, also helps to expand to two more schools. Caswell and Limestone will be recipients of our book project this year; we look forward to meeting with the children at those schools, along with Hilltop, Woodland, New Sweden and Connor. All the books have important life lessons for children and it’s our hope these messages will be carried on throughout their lives. Marissa was a very kind and compassionate young girl and it’s because of her we move forward, creating her legacy.

Thank you!

~ A voice is a voice no matter how small~

March 2012 Raffle Update

Congratulations to the winners to date.  Winners are also being posted daily on Facebook @ Sunshine Fund.

Thank you for supporting Marissa’s Sunshine Fund.

Once your name is drawn your ticket goes back into the drawing for more changes to win.  41 chances to win!

March 2012 Raffle

The Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund needs your support. March 17th, is Marissa’s Birthday and we wanted to do something special therefore, we are holding a raffle during the month of March. Prizes will be drawn daily, with a $250.00 grand prize on March 17th. Proceeds will go towards the 2nd grade book program; this will make the 5th year, the fund has been providing books containing important life lessons for children that have to deal with, bullies, separation, anxiety, death and, much more. The program started in 2008 at Caribou Elementary school and has since expanded to surrounding schools, Woodland, New Sweden and Connor. This year we plan to include Limestone and Caswell Elementary Schools. The tickets are $10.00 and you can win again and again. If you would like to help us carry on Marissa’s legacy, please , see any of the board members, Kristin Lloyd, Nancy Saucier, Lisa Berkoski, Connie Lloyd, Allyson Masse, Lynn Greenier and Terri Hallowell. We also can be contacted through the marissasunshinefund.org website and Sunshine fund on Facebook. If you would like to purchase a ticket by mail, send a check for $ 10.00 (per ticket) along with your address to:

Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund
394 Sweden St.
Caribou, Me. 04736

It would mean a lot to have our mailbox be filled with ticket request. The proceeds will help us to continue our mission and to carry on Marissa’s legacy.

Mission: Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund, established, to encourage the public involvement as advocates for children’s rights, to assist children in developing skills they need to protect, guide and educate themselves in recognizing all forms of abuse and neglect, and to support children in realizing they have a recognizable VOICE offering them hope for a brighter future without fear and retaliation.

Thank you!

2011 Books for Second Graders

May 2011 Marissa’s fund continues to give books to second graders. This marks the 4th consecutive year at Hilltop Elementary School and the 2nd year for students at New Sweden, Connor and Woodland Schools. It is our vision and hope that we may be able to involve additional schools next year.
Author Audrey Penn collaborated once again with Marissa’s Fund offering her complete support. Mrs. Penn autographed each book presented to the second graders at Hilltop, New Sweden, Woodland and Connor Elementary schools. Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully was once again a popular choice; this book encourages children to understand that many child bullies are themselves unhappy and it offers readers a good example of settling differences by peaceful means. The second most popular book chosen this year is called Chester the Raccoon and the Acorn Full of Memories. In this book, many children must face a loss of someone close to them as well as the accompanying funeral. This book helps them to prepare for that experience and to understand the positive aspects of memorializing loved ones. Each book depicts an underlying message that we hope children will carry with them throughout their life.

Lynn Greenier, board member and Woodland Elementary school teacher, provided a brief presentation on why this fund was started, how second graders were chosen to receive the books, that Marissa was in second grade at the time of her passing, and that she was a 7 year old little girl who believed in helping others. Thus, her family and friends continue this mission through the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund. Mrs. Greenier also spoke about bullying and entertained questions from the young audience. It was a great pleasure to have the opportunity to present the books. We would like to thank all the participating schools for opening their doors to our program.

2011 Family Weekend Getaway Raffle

Directors of the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund recently announced the winner of the latest fundraiser. A complete weekend family get away. Congratulations to Pam Morin of Caribou the winning ticket was drawn at Bramble Berry Mkt. in downtown Caribou. Our Family Weekend Getaway raffle was a huge success and would not have been possible without community support. So, you the community are truly helping us make a difference in the lives of children. The raffle funds will go towards purchasing books from Author Audrey Penn’s Kissing Hand series, for all elementary 2nd graders of Caribou, New Sweden, Woodland and Connor. We are excited to announce the author Mrs. Penn has recently offered her full support to Marissa’s Fund. She is a wonderful child advocate and we are excited and thankful to have her support. Her children’s books are filled with life lessons, helping children deal with bullies, anxiety, separation and the difficult topic of death. The directors of the fund would like to extend a special thank you to everyone who supported this worthy cause by purchasing or helping sell tickets. Also thanks to Debbie Sutherland of Bramble Berry Mkt. Doc’s & Leo Citgo, Mountain Ash Web, County Quik print and our Bangor sponsors Bangor Motor Inn, Texas Roadhouse and Bangor Mall Cinema.

Photo: On hand to present the winner of the annual Family Weekend Getaway Raffle sponsored by the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund. Connie & Kristin Lloyd, Debbie Sutherland owner of Bramble Berry Mkt. where the winning ticket was drawn also, board members Allyson Masse and Lynn Greenier. Front are Jacob Berkoski who drew the lucky ticket and the winner Pam Morin of Caribou.

Raffle Fundraiser

We are currently gearing up for the 4th yr. of giving books to all second graders in Caribou, New Sweden, Connor & Woodland. The books all contain important life lessons dealing with, bullies, separation, death and, much more. The children get to use their voice and choose the book of their choose. The smiles on their faces when presented with the book they chose is priceless. Help us to continue this great cause. $ 5.00 or more and you can warm the heart of a child and just may win a great weekend getaway.

Thank you, to all that have supported us so far, we deeply appreciate it.

If you would like to purchase a ticket contact, Kristin Lloyd, Lisa Berkoski, Nancy Saucier, Allyson Masse, Connie Lloyd, Terri Hallowell & Lynn Greenier

3rd Annual Book Give Away!!

May 2010 Students receive books through the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine Fund
For the 3rd consecutive year.

Delighted to announce we were able to extend the book giveaway to 3 additional schools in the surrounding communities New Sweden, Woodland & Connor

Once again the books chosen were from the Audrey Penn’s Kissing Hand series. All these books contain an important life lesson, such as helping easing children’s fears of separation, death, and understanding bullies and why they bully, encouraging positive ways of dealing with all of these life occurrences.

The board members were able to collaborate directly with the well-renowned children’s author Audrey Penn. After notifying Mrs. Penn earlier this year and telling her Marissa’s story, she graciously offered to help us get the books we needed, she also took it one step further and autographed over 125 books. With out her help we wouldn’t have been able to expand to the surrounding communities. Mrs. Penn is definitely another wonderful child advocate.

Prior to the the distribution of the books board member and elementary teacher Lynn Greenier touched base with the students about Marissa and how the fund came about after the sudden passing of Marissa whom was a 2nd grade student at Hilltop elementary. One of the books offered this year was Audrey Penn’s new book, titled Chester Raccoon and the Acorn Full Of Memories.

This is a book that deals with the topic of death a very difficult topic for any one of any age however, exceptionally difficult for children. This was the number one book chosen by the children this year. The author helps the readers by focusing on making lovely memories and how they can forever hold their lost loved ones in their hearts. We know all to well a child may be faced with this horrible situation at any time. We received many comments on how the book was very sad however; they liked it and would take care of it.

Mrs. Greenier also spoke with the children about bulling, letting them know that bullying can happen anywhere and by anyone. It could be another child, a sibling, relatives, neighbors or even parents. She expressed to the children that they have right to use their VOICE when being bullied by telling a trusted adult. Being bullied is never your fault and is something that should be stopped immediately. Important for children to know their voice is one the most powerful tools they have………….and not to be afraid to use it. The book “The Big Bad Bully” was the second highest chosen book and the number one chosen book last year. We hope that children understand bullying is a form of abuse and that many times the bully is having troubles of his own. With all the national attention to bullying were glad to bring a book to the students to help them deal with this type of abuse that starts at a very young age.

1st Sunshine Citizenship Awards

The second graders at Hilltop elementary were also given the chance to use their voice and vote for one of their classmates for this award. We sent ballots to school with criteria for voting. Each student was asked to vote for a student in their classroom that exemplified the following characteristics: good manners, respectful, helpful to others, takes care of school property and is kind to all. The winners received a stuffed Chester the Raccoon, the character the books are based on and, also a certificate from the board members. This was special for the winners, due to their peers being the one’s that chose them. Some of the parents of the recipients attended the ceremony making it even more special. We hope to extend this award to the other schools in the upcoming years.

Winners of the 1st. Sunshine Citizenship Award
Cullin Caverhill, Ethan Holmquist, Paige Espling,
Elsie Patton and Owen Martin

Board member Nancy Saucier and Lisa Berkoski
Presenting Elsie Patton with her award and certificate.

Once again with out the outstanding support of the community we could not make this wonderful event possible.

Upcoming Fundraiser:

Were currently working on our next fund raiser this will be a Family Winter Weekend Get A Way, were currently working on the prize package and will announce the details as soon as there finalized, we’re looking forward to another successful year. Remember the most important advocate for a child is his or her own parents.

Caribou’s 150th Birthday Celebration Parade

We thought it was important to bring awareness of our fund to the public and what better way then joining the parade. We wanted to make our float stand out and that we did. We wanted to make it as child friendly as we could and also tie in to Caribou’s Birthday Celebration. Marissa and children of all ages were our inspiration.   We deicide on a huge birthday cake, with a rainbow displaying our tag line: A Voice Is A Voice No Matter How Small…..and at the end of the rainbow instead of gold we had a huge “pot of children’s books”  we also had our own little leprechaun Marissa’s cousin Jacob who was pictured in the Aroostook Republican. We had bubble machines blowing out bubbles and a real flower garden on the back of the float decked out with fairies and butterflies. The float displayed several replicas of Marissa’s Sun and included messages of children’s rights. We wanted to give something other then candy Kristin recalled, while working at NMCC they would collect children’s books and hand out during the light parade so we thought that would be a great idea.  We started adversting that we were looking for children’s books to recycle and hand out to the children along the parade route.  We received over 700 books from the general public and just a few days before the parade we received a large donation from the Catholic Charities. This allowed us to give out over 2000 books along the route. Children everywhere were extending their hands for a book. Along with the books, 1000 bottles of bubbles, pencils and book marks encouraging children to read and giving them information on the Marissa E. Lloyd Sunshine website.   The smiles were priceless and the day touched all of us in a very special way. The adults were thankful of our efforts, and many clapped and shouted thank you as we walked by. A child’s greatest advocate is his or her own family and it was wonderful seeing so many families and so many parents telling the children “What do you say?” and as we continued on we could hear the child say “Thank you!”

Our efforts did not go unnoticed we ended up winning “Best Non Profit” and was picture in the Aroostook Republican and Bangor Daily. We received many Congratulations and notes of encouragement to continue our mission. It’s a day my family and friends will never forget. Once again it’s the community that makes this happen.

Special thanks to:

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