PLC’s 21st Annual Meeting & Fundraiser

BREWER – The Professional Logging Contractors

(PLC) of Maine held its 21st Annual Meeting Friday, April 29 with guests including U.S. Senator Angus King, and raised approximately $36,000 for the Log A Load for Kids Foundation to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The event also included the presentation of awards to Maine Senate President Michael Thibodeau and Maine House Speaker Mark Eves for their work on behalf of Maine loggers.

Senator King welcomed the crowd of more than 150 Maine loggers, supporters, forest products industry business owners and representatives, lawmakers, and family members attending the evening dinner and awards ceremony that followed a day of meetings, presentations, and the auction in support of the Log A Load for Kids Foundation.

The Senator noted the difficult times Maine’s forest products industry has experienced in recent years and said preserving Maine’s professional logging infrastructure is critical to the long-term health of a viable forest products economy in the state.

“You’re it – it all starts with getting the wood out of the forest,” King said. “This is really crucial for the future of Maine.”

The meeting is one of the PLC’s major fund-raisers for the Log A Load for Kids Foundation to benefit Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals, and this year the event set a new record for funds raised. The $35,000 raised topped the previous record of $20,000, and a final $1,000 donation after the meeting from Anderson Equipment Company brought the final total to $36,000. PLC members are well known for their generosity in supporting charitable causes benefiting children and are sponsors of the Log A Load For Kids annual campaign here in Maine, which encourages loggers and others in the forest products community to donate the value of one load of logs, or any amount, to local Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. Log A Load For Kids is a national leader in CMN fundraising.

The PLC and the Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) Foundation have raised more than $775,000 since 1996 for children in Maine. Donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of the mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible.

“After all that loggers have been through in the last eight months, it is truly inspiring to see this kind of generosity from PLC members,” Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, said. “Loggers are some of the most generous and humble people. Our 2016 Annual Meeting shows just how unselfish this group is and how they will rally together to help those in need.

Meeting Continued on Page 19