Caregiver of the year
Restoring Salmon Habitat
Ali Donilon’ 07
Caregiver of the year
Ali( Arsenault) Donilon’ 07 was honored with the Caregiver of the Year award from MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Biddeford / Sanford( formerly Southern Maine Medical Center).
Her nominators said Ali, an occupational therapist,“ is a driving force for quality improvement in the rehab department … she is a positive voice in times of change – advocating for improvements and encouraging those around her to also embrace positive change.”
Ali joined the medical center nine years ago, and works with some of its sickest patients, including those in the Intensive Care Unit. Her peers credit her for being a champion of care for patients.
In addition to an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences / Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire, Ali earned a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of New England, and has taken continuing education courses to enhance her patient care.
John Blunt‘ 67
Restoring Salmon Habitat
Sometimes Mother Nature can use a little help, and that’ s where John Blunt comes in. John is the president of the Saco River Salmon Club and leads the organization’ s efforts to replenish the population of salmon in the area. During our visit in January, the club’ s hatchery, located off Pool Road in Biddeford, held 150 salmon in its four climate-controlled tanks, while also incubating 50,000 eggs that John and other volunteers harvested and fertilized using the hatchery’ s fish. Eggs are placed into local waters in winter, while baby fry, measuring about an inch, are released into streams in May. The combination of eggs and fry gives the species its best chance of growth.
John, an aeronautical engineer and local building contractor by trade, started the salmon club in 1984 and built the hatchery in 1996. He’ s passionate about its work to restore the salmon population and educate the next generation and was often joined in his volunteer work at the hatchery by his late wife Carolyn( Allen)‘ 67.
Saco River Salmon Club hosts school tours and has provided incubators and eggs to Thornton Academy and 25 elementary classrooms in York and Cumberland Counties. In addition, students from the University of New England’ s aquaculture program spend time in the hatchery and lab and in the field with John and his team. The club is also active in local, state, and federal discussions about fish ladders and other fish passage infrastructure.
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