The REM Partners are a coalition of more than forty area nonprofit organizations that work together to identify community problems and develop programs to address them. Membership is open to any nonprofit entity (including schools, hospitals, churches, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations) that is active in the Waterville area.

The REM Partners first convened in the Summer of 2001 to revive REM's Community Awards Ceremony. At one of their earliest meetings, the Partners prepared the following vision statement:

We are a diverse group of area nonprofit organizations working to coordinate, and communicate our missions and our services to this community, including ways to access them. We hold the belief that communication and cooperation enhance the common good of all. We encourage volunteerism and honor and celebrate volunteers throughout our community, fostering the growth of a shared, commonly held network of volunteers.

Always open to new membership, we pledge our organizations to the support of our Partners and share openly ways we can be of help to each other. From this strong base, we identify community problems and develop programs together to address them, utilizing our shared awareness of our community resources.

From colleges and hospitals with hundreds of employees and substantial real estate holdings to small community groups with no offices or paid staff, all Partners enjoy the same privileges. The benefits of becoming a REM Partner include, but are not limited to:

• Local Voices: Partners receive advance notification of the publication of upcoming issues of Local Voices, REM's six-page, large format community newspaper. Local Voices is published three times a year with print runs of up to 15,000 copies that are distributed throughout the Waterville area, mostly as inserts in the Morning Sentinel. Partners may submit articles about their own activities and receive preference over non-Partners when space is tight.
• REM Community Awards: Each Partner may select one or more of its volunteers to honor at REM's Annual Community Awards Ceremony, which is held each fall at the Waterville Opera House. Each Partner participating in the ceremony receives a beautiful crystal awards disk to present to the honoree and a cloth banner with the organization's name and logo.
• REM Partners Directory: Each fall, REM prepares a directory of the Partners that contains a description of and contact information for each organization. Each new edition is released at the REM Community Awards Ceremony and is distributed throughout the year. This directory is now available online as well, giving even the smallest Partner organization exposure on the World Wide Web.
• REMnet: Partners may submit notices of their upcoming activities on REM's web site, at www.rem1.org/remnet. REM sends weekly messages to more than 200 subscribers, notifying them of new postings. There is no charge to subscribe to REMnet, and Partners are asked to encourage their employees or members to sign up.
• Rentals: REM Partners can rent the REM Forum and the REM Board Room for half price. REM provides these spaces for community events in The Center at 93 Main Street in beautiful Downtown Waterville. With 1280 square feet of space and a spring-loaded floor, the REM Forum is suitable for dinners, dances, meetings, and receptions for up to 100 people. The REM Board Room is ideal for smaller meetings, and the REM Partners may hold their own board meetings in the REM Board Room for free.
• Poster Distribution: REM's Poster Team will distribute posters throughout the Waterville area that Partners provide to promote their events.
• Workshops: REM has sponsored workshops on grant writing and other topics of interest to nonprofit organizations. REM Partners may enroll their staff or board members in these workshops at a considerable discount.

If you represent a nonprofit organization that would like to become a REM Partner, please contact Faye Nicholson, REM's executive director, at rem@rem1.org or 873-4444. You are welcome to join us!