Donald Cundy, a junior at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, has been a Big Brother since his freshman year. He is being honored for his outstanding volunteer service with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine at the WCSH 11th Annual Teens Who Care Award ceremony next month.
The ceremony, hosted by WCSH-6 News Center’s Lee Nelson and Sharon Rose, will take place at the Portland Museum of Art on Mon., April 13.
The six student winners each receive $2000 scholarship funds from Maine Education Services and Maine Community College System (sponsors of the event) and were chosen out of 44 nominated volunteers.
The six winners are Daniel Ault of Brewer, Donald Cundy, Patrick Diamond of Scarborough, Morgan Mitchell of Southport, Alexandra Morrow of Lebanon, and Jordan Sanford of Shapleigh.
Tossing around a football in back of the Great Salt Bay School in Damariscotta with his 12 year-old pal, Cundy clearly has fun. The two smile and laugh, share jokes and chat amiably.
The LA student has been bound to a wheelchair since age four when he was struck by a vehicle, but this doesn’t slow him down.
According to a WCSH-6 press release, Cundy is also an Assistant Scout Leader for Troop 228. Cundy reaches over to pick up the spongy football, which is wet from having landed in puddles left by melted snow and hurtles it back to his younger friend.
He comes to GSB School every Tuesday afternoon to hang out with his “Little,” Brandon Jewett. Cundy recalled having someone to look up to as a young person and aspired to give back and joined the program to become a “Big.”
“When I was in the first grade, I thought it was the coolest thing to have an eighth grader hang out with me,” he said.
According to Alex Gaeth, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Midcoast Maine, Cundy is a committed volunteer.
“He’s got a great outlook on life,” Gaeth said, adding that the student’s positive attitude rubs off on those around him. “He’s got a wicked sense of humor.”
Gaeth went on to say that Cundy is not concerned with what other people think, but cares more about what he can do for others. A former Big Brother himself, Gaeth said teenagers have it tough. Often feeling they are too young to offer the world anything, he said the students in the program learn they have a lot to offer.
Speaking of the award Cundy is to receive, Gaeth said, “He’s very deserving of it.”
As the press release states, NBC affiliate WCSH channels 6 and 2 will present short documentary-style video clips of each winning student at the award ceremony.
The video profiles will air during a following televised Teens Who Care Special. The station will also televise 30-second public service announcement clips of the students throughout May and June.
