On Friday July 31st, founder Connor Archer, went to Walmart, to use the $50 donation that the store gave him to buy school supplies. We also used generous donations from yesterday's back to school drive event, which raised $391 to buy more supplies. 

Archer bought items from crayons, markers, color pencils, glue sticks, index cards, notebooks, and composition books. 

We are still welcoming donations of school supplies at our drop-off bin locations. You can find those bins at these following locations until Friday August 14th: Old Town Hannaford, Old Town Orono YMCA, Mahan's Redemption Center, Aqua Hair Salon, Old Town & Orono Bangor Savings Bank branches, and the Old Town Recreation Center. 

The Courageous Steps Project today, hosted it's 2nd annual Back to School Drive at Governor's Restaurant from 7am to 7pm. The drive generated $391.88 to be used to help buy more school supplies, along with the other $125 donated in gift cards from local stores. 

Founder Connor Archer, stood at the same place for the 12 hour event, saying that it was quite exhausting. "I was quite tired during the afternoon of the event. It was a hot day for the event, but a breeze kept it from getting uncomfortable." 

Today, Archer filled four huge boxes full of supplies, from teachers, parents, high school students, and from community members who just felt like donating. The Old Town Recreation Center Outdoor Adventure group came by with some kids, as they made posters, that they held for around an hour holding the signs on Stillwater Avenue, by Governor's advertising for the event. 

"I couldn't of expected a better turnout. A lot of people came out and gave school supplies, but their were also lots of monetary donations. It was a great day for the event, and their was lots of support from people that I know in my community, and I cannot thank the community enough for supporting the Courageous Steps Project today."

Supplies donated, ranged from notebooks, composition books, pencils, color pencils, crayons, markers, cap erasers, glue sticks, folders, binders, and more. 

The money collected today, will be used to buy more of these supplies, and other supplies such as tissues, and clorox wipes, that teachers especially use with the younger children. 

We are not done collecting school supplies though. Through mid August, we will be collecting school supplies for Old Town & Orono area schools at the following locations: Old Town & Orono Bangor Savings Bank branches, Old Town Orono YMCA, Old Town Recreation Center, Old Town Hannaford, Mahan's Redemption Center, Aqua Hair Salon, and the Green House Nursery School in Milford. 

If you want to make a donation, please mail your donation to Old Town High School. If you are writing a check, please make it out to Old Town High School, with Courageous Steps written in the memo. 

Thank you WABI TV5 for sharing the 2nd annual Courageous Steps Back to School Drive with the community. Below are two links that talk about this year's back to school drive at Governor's tomorrow from 7am to 7pm! 

Green House Nursery School director Lynn Faerber, and classroom teacher Karen Thibault, receive technology items as part of the first phase of the Green House Nursery School Technology Expansion Project. 

After a month of hard work, the Courageous Steps Project founder Connor Archer, presented the first phase items of the technology expansion project, to the Green House Nursery School on Wednesday July 30th. 

Lynn Faerber, the director at the school, and Karen Thibault, the classroom teacher at the school, were their to receive the devices. The original plan was to get one iPad, with a bluetooth speaker system, and a protection plan, along with an iTunes gift card to be used for apps. After some money was left over, we were able to invest in one more iPad for the school. 


Faerber and Thibault were surprised, as they didn't expect two iPads to be coming in the same year. These iPads will be used constantly during the day in the classroom, and in workspaces for speech & language therapy. 


Phase two, will include a new monitor, to display videos and such on the tv. Phase two will also include the iPad's, as we hope to invest in more iPads, if not have an iPad available for each staff member at the school. 


We have attached photos below of the first phase of the project!

The Courageous Steps Project has had a successful 2nd season with many fundraising endeavors, that are helping our local programs that help young children with challenges. 

So far, $4,000 given to local programs that help young children with challenges, a $1,500 technology expansion project taking place at the Green House Nursery School, a scholarship fund that has given away $900 to three Old Town High School seniors this past June, a benefit dinner that raised $550.40 in four hours, and a back to school drive that hopes to  benefit Old Town & Orono area schools. 

All the work could of not been done without the hard work of founder Connor Archer, who founded the project last year, after he saw a need in the community for this organization. Archer, over the past 2 years, has lead the Courageous Steps Project, to raise over $10,000 for these programs that help young children with challenges. 

It is because of what Archer has done, that Courageous Steps has grown to what it is today. Archer envisions many projects to continue until the end of August, and through the beginning of September, as he begins to wind down on the successful season. 

Founder Connor Archer, received a generous donation from the Old Town/Orono Kiwanis presentation. After, many people were inspired about his project, and about his upcoming fundraiser, that people donated to the drive, to buy more school supplies. 

After the presentation, Archer spent his time at the Bangor Staples store at around 8:30pm, as he bought 60 notebooks, 60 folders, 20 composition books, 10 cap eraser packs, 10 pencil sharpener packs, about 20 packs of crayons, and about 8 packs of pencils. 

"This is an excellent way to start the drive out. I hope people come out Thursday, and donate supplies, or make a monetary donation. It is important for our schools to prepare our students in the right direction, and this is another way to do that". 

Archer will be hosting the 2nd annual Courageous Steps Back to School Drive on Thursday from 7am to 7pm at the Old Town Governor's Restaurant. 

The Courageous Steps Project founder Connor Archer, was invited to give a presentation to the Old Town/Orono Kiwanis Club about his journey living with Autism on Tuesday July 28th, at the Black Bear Inn. 

Archer talked through his journey for about 20 minutes, and then answered some thoughtful questions, that made him think a little. His parents, Mike and Jessica Archer, answered some of those questions, as he knew they could say it in a better way. 

This is one of many engagements, that Archer has pursued in the past year, as part of the Courageous Steps Project. "It takes a community to raise a child", said Archer in one of his presentation slides during the presentation. Archer also mentions in a BDN article at the beginning of July the following: "It takes one person to make a difference. It takes several to make an impact". 

The theme throughout his presentation, is that we are all a community, and that we need to embrace one another in our community. He kept mentioning that throughout the entire presentation. 

Archer hopes to take tonight's experiences, and share them with other people, along with other organizations in the local area. It's another way, that we can change the prospective of early intervention, and how it is critical for young children with challenges, before three years of age. 

He would like to thank the Old Town/Orono Kiwanis club for inviting him as a guest speaker tonight. It was a memorable experience, and he impacted a lot of people! 

The Courageous Steps Project on Thursday July 30th, will be holding it's 2nd annual back to school drive, at the Old Town Governor's Restaurant from 7am to 7pm. 

Founder Connor Archer, along with his volunteers, will be collecting supplies for 12 hours, to benefit Old Town & Orono area schools. 

On Thursday, we need anything from notebooks, pencils, pens, composition books, eraser caps, glue sticks, bottles of glue, tape, notepads, highlighters, backpacks, lunch boxes, flash drives, AND MORE!

Archer has received generous donations of $50 each from Walmart and Target, to use towards school supplies. If you don't have time to pick up supplies, you can always leave a generous donation to help towards the cause. 

Archer will also be working on his One Word Project on Thursday. He is asking for anyone who has a moment, to stick around and think of an adjective that would describe them as a person. Archer would then videotape them saying the word. Once the project is complete, he will morph all the videos together, and put it into a 7 minute video to share with local schools at the end of August, and early September. 

We are hoping you stop by to donate school supplies, and to share a word with us, to educate others about how powerful words can be. 

The Courageous Steps Project, on Thursday July 30th, will be hosting it's 2nd annual back to school drive at the Old Town Governor's Restaurant front parking lot. 

From 7am to 7pm, you can drop off many school supplies, to benefit Old Town & Orono area schools. Already, Target and Walmart have donated $50 each, to be used to buy school supplies for this year's back to school drive. 

We also have many businesses that plan on getting involved next Thursday as well. If you are a business, please let you're other personnel know about this endeavor. 

That day, we will also be working on our One Word Project, which will be released at the end of August, on our website, and will be sold, to benefit Courageous Steps endeavors. 

If you have any questions, please contact Connor Archer (connor.archer@thecourageousstepsproject.org), for any questions that you may have. 

We will keep you posted on other details about the back to school drive as well! 

The Courageous Steps Project on Tuesday July 21st, hosted the first annual Courageous Steps benefit dinner at the Old Town Governor's Restaurant from 4pm to 8pm. 

The donations table in the front raised $340.40 in just that short amount of time. $210.00 was raised from 10% of each meal's proceeds. That will also go to support Courageous Steps endeavors. So in all, the Courageous Steps Project raised $550.40 in four hours. 

Again, thank you to those who came out and supported the Courageous Steps Project. You're contribution will affect so many young children with challenges in our area. 

If you haven't made a donation yet, you can send your donation to Old Town High School, 203 Stillwater Avenue, Old Town, ME 04468. If you are writing a check, please make it out to Old Town High School with Courageous Steps written in the memo.