Joe wants to spread the word about National Donate Life Month. Every day in April, people across the U.S. make a special effort to celebrate the tremendous generosity of those who have saved lives by becoming organ, tissue, marrow, and blood donors and to encourage more Americans to follow their fine example. Last year alone, organ donors made more than 33,000 transplants possible. Another one million people received cornea and other tissue transplants that helped them recover from trauma, bone damage, spinal injuries, burns, hearing impairment and vision loss. Unfortunately, thousands die every year waiting for a donor organ that never comes, but you have the power to change that.

Joe urges you to find more information about this important subject here.

                         Photography by Corey Templeton. See more of Corey's photos here and here.

Readers of this blog are by now familiar with the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, New England's largest horse shelter. The Society is caring for many horses in various stages of recovery from abuse or neglect. Some are healthy, trained, and awaiting adoption into a new permanent home; others will live out their days at the Society’s Windham farm.

It takes 20,000 bales of hay to feed The Society's horses for a year. The 2021 Buy a Bale fundraiser gives everyone a chance to help the horses.$5 feeds a horse for a day, and a $155 gift feeds a horse for an entire month.  If you love horses, you probably really love baby horses!  Click here to meet Little B, an energetic foal born just 2 months ago to a rescued mare at the MSSPA shelter.  Little B will need lots of hay to help him grow big and strong and ensure that he is ready for adoption when he is grown.  You can read the 2021 Buy-A-Bale stories here, or give the gift of hay to the horses here.

Joe's team offers our thanks to the folks at MSSPA for the great work they do, and his appreciation to the readers of this blog who lend a hand to this great cause.

                       Photography by Corey Templeton. See more of Corey's photos here and here.

Today's tasty message promotes a group Joe's team has touted before: The Girl Scouts of Maine. The Girl Scouts seek to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Worldwide the Girl Scouts are  2.5 million strong—more than 1.7 million girls and 750,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) to change the world. Girl Scout membership is open to any girl in grades K-12 who has made the Girl Scout Promise, accepts the Girl Scout Law, and pays annual membership dues.

Girl Scout cookies are now on sale. When you buy a box of delicious Girl Scout Cookies, you’re powering amazing, year-round experiences for every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) extraordinaire in your community who sells them—that’s right, proceeds stay local and are reinvested in girls! Joe's team will be sure to eat their fair share of thin mints-- will you?

Learn more about the Girl Scouts of Maine here, and more about the delicious cookies here.

This weekend Joe's team is spreading the word about an important issue that affects all Mainers: hunger. Specifically, we're spreading the word about Good Shepherd Food Bank. The mission of Good Shepherd Food Bank is to eliminate hunger in Maine by improving access to nutritious food to people in need, building strong community partnerships, and mobilizing the public in the fight to end hunger.

As the largest hunger-relief organization in Maine, Good Shepherd Food Bank provides for Mainers facing hunger by distributing nutritious food to more than 500 partner agencies across the state, including food pantries, meal sites, schools, health care centers, and senior programs. Together with its network, the Food Bank leads a statewide effort to combat the root causes of hunger by engaging in advocacy, nutrition education, and strategic partnerships. In Fiscal Year 2020, the Food Bank distributed more than 27 million meals to families, children, and seniors in need throughout Maine.

We applaud the work that Good Shepherd Food Bank does, and urge you to learn more about their essential work here.

Regular readers of this blog are by now well familiar with Portland Ovations, a nonprofit performing arts organization in Maine connecting artists and audiences through diverse arts experiences. This essential local nonprofit regularly puts on memorable performances, several of which have been promoted on the Time & Temp. Today, Joe's team is spreading the word about the 90th season of Portland Ovations, which is being launched this week with a virtual, 3-part benefit party filled with Artists, Auctions, & Performances streamed to you LIVE from the Merrill Auditorium stage with esteemed emcees Kerem Durdag & Sara Juli and hosts Mary Allen Lindemann & Aimée M. Petrin. If you'd like to be inspired by an array of local celebrity appearances and exclusive performances, be sure to tune in this Thursday, March 25th at 6:30pm!

Readers of this blog will recognize this familiar message. Farm to Table Kids, Inc. is a local farm and nonprofit based in North Yarmouth that also operates a summer camp for kids. The mission of the camp is to inspire children & families to play in kitchens and gardens through healthy, happy, hands-on learning experiences. Showing children the power of a seed, healthy earth, and an educated mind, the wonders of growing - from SEED TO PLATE. Farm to Table Kids shows children how to plant, grow, harvest, and prepare healthy foods at their organic farm and solar powered greenhouse STEAM Lab.

Learn more about this great camp, including how to register, here.

                Photography by Corey Templeton. See more of Corey's photos here and here.

In our line of work, Joe's Team has seen too many lives ruined by dangerous driving. To raise awareness about this important issue, Joe holds the Arrive Alive Creative Contest each year for graduating high school seniors throughout Maine. Now in it's 17th year, seniors may enter by submitting a creative project that sends a message to their peers about the dangers of drinking and driving and/or distracted driving.

Past entries have included essays, poems, paintings, public service announcements, videos, original songs, t-shirts, board games, drawings and more. The more creative, the better! First place winners receive a new laptop computer, second and third place winners receive a new iPad, and everyone who enters wins fun prizes from the Law Offices of Joe Bornstein.

Only 52 days until the deadline for this year's contest. A complete set of rules and all past winners can be found at ArriveAliveCreativeContest.com. Joe encourages any and all high school seniors in Maine to submit an entry into the contest, and more importantly encourages everyone on the road to practice safe driving techniques.

                   Photography by Corey Templeton. See more of Corey's photos here and here.

This one is simple enough: Joe's team wants to make sure all Mainers are doing their part to keep each other safe and hopefully get us back to normal as soon as possible. We hope you and your family are staying safe. Thanks for masking up!

                   Image from the Portland Downtown Instagram page.