PRESQUE ISLE – An Upward Bound staffer who qualified to run in the Boston Marathon is hoping to use the opportunity to raise money for a cause she cares about – Upward Bound’s Bridge Program.
Contributed photo RENE LALIBERTY, a member of the Upward Bound staff at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Rene Laliberty, an academic counselor for TRiO Upward Bound, is hoping to raise $8,250 through sponsorships to pay room and board for 10 students so they can live on a college campus during the six-week Bridge Program. She also hopes to raise an additional $4,500 to provide stipends for rising seniors taking part in unpaid work experience positions.
“Many run in the Marathon, but I believe it’s important to run for a cause,” Laliberty said. “I have been involved with Upward Bound for so long – if not for the program, I would not be where I am today.”
Laliberty is specifically raising money for Upward Bound’s Bridge Program, which is often viewed by students as the culminating UB experience, according to Darylen Cote, TRiO Upward Bound director for the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Cote oversees the academic counselors at UMFK, where Laliberty is based, and at the Houlton Higher Education Center.
The program is designed to give UB students a head start on college and an insight into college-level work in a supportive environment during the summer between high school graduation and the first semester in college. Cote explained that, beginning next summer, the Bridge Program in northern Maine will not be a residential program. Students will do coursework online or through interactive television.
Laliberty, however, is passionate about still giving students the opportunity to live on campus. An Upward Bound alumna from the University of Maine at Farmington, she feels that her Bridge summer was crucial to her success in college. In fact, she believes that if she had not been able to live on campus the summer before she went to college, she probably would not have made the transition from her home to college.
Along with the funding for the Bridge Program, Laliberty plans to raise money for rising seniors. This will allow students – who might otherwise have to take a summer job – to stay with the program during the summer before their senior year in high school.
Studies have shown that the longer students stay with Upward Bound, Cote said, the more successful they are at getting into and succeeding in postsecondary education.
Laliberty is seeking $1 per mile contributions, rounded up to $27 for the 26.2 mile race, though she will accept donations of any size. To find out more about sponsorship, contact Cote at 768-9456 or Laliberty at 834-8624.
