THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Welcome to the Emergency Action Network. For the 2024-2025 academic year, we continue to use a school-based referral system. We ask that Brunswick school department staff please use our in-building referral system by contacting the TEAN point person in your school:

Kate Furbish Elementary: Abby Turner

Harriet Beecher Stowe: Amanda Carson

Brunswick Junior High School: Alanna Roy

Brunswick High School: Mary Kunhardt

TEAN also welcomes referrals from social service agencies and our referring partners. To make a referral from outside of the school system, please email us at emergencyactionnetwork at gmaildotcom. If you’re a student in Brunswick’s public schools or a parent/guardian of a student in need of TEAN’s assistance, please reach out to your caseworker, a Brunswick schools staff member, or a guidance counselor to request a referral on your behalf.

What is TEAN? How does it work?

About The Emergency Action Network (TEAN)

TEAN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Brunswick community members with a singular mission: to provide essential support to children and families in our community who are facing challenges in meeting their basic needs.

Our Mission

At TEAN, our mission is simple yet profound—small acts can make a huge difference in closing the gaps for students who need basic things like a well-fitting winter coat to enjoy recess or a pair of cleats to join a school team. We are dedicated to reducing barriers to help ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Process

As soon as a student need is identified and TEAN receives a referral, we post the request to our Facebook group of TEAN Allies and ask for help from the community. These items are then collected at one of the schools, or via our volunteer network, and discretely distributed to students by school-based administrators.

How We Make a Difference

  • Basic Necessities: We harness the generosity of friends and neighbors in our community. Allies pass along coats that have been outgrown, for example, or purchase a hard-to-find items or something that really must be new. Our goal is to connect students to the essentials they need to fully access their educational opportunities.
  • Collection Drives: Throughout the year, TEAN organizes five collection drives, ensuring that Brunswick schools are well-equipped to meet the most common requests of their students. We collect school supplies, winter outerwear, underwear and socks, sneakers and cleats, and toiletries.
  • Community Partnerships: We collaborate with the Brunswick School Department, individual citizens, faith-based organizations, Bowdoin College, and our generous business community to collect needed items, raise funds, help solve emergency situations, and to make our annual drives a success.

Join Us in Helping out Kids and Families in Brunswick

TEAN needs your help to continue to make a significant impact on the lives of Brunswick’s children. Please join our Facebook page, donate to our drives, or volunteer a few hours of your time. We also rely on one-time or monthly, sustaining donors to meet emergency needs, such as making it possible for us to provide clean, new, sanitary mattresses for newly housed children or new socks, underwear, and toiletries. We have use private donations and grant funds to support programs related to art therapy, water safety and hunger prevention.

 DONATE TODAY!

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  ♦ TEAN in our community: Success stories♦

When a local mobile home park faced a water crisis due to dried-up wells, TEAN took action. We partnered with Poland Spring Water, who generously donated 4 pallets of water.

With the support of the Brunswick fire department and our moving truck, we swiftly delivered the much-needed water to residents.

Our annual drives are a great way for people to volunteer with TEAN. We need to people to sort, empty bins, deliver items to schools, and help us with getting the word out to donors, businesses, faith organizations, and on social media. Emailing us at emergencyactionnetwork@gmail.com or following us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/emergencyactionnetwork is the best way to start getting involved.

Community Caring: A New Bed for a Child in Need

Maggie, a former TEAN board member and nurse, visited a new mom and in that visit, learned the mom needed a bed for her 10-year-old daughter, Maggie sprang into action, posting the need on TEAN’s allies Facebook page. As what often happens – not only is the basic need met – in this case, a new mattress – but more was offered. A new frame, pillows, blankets, and linens poured in as donations. A local family offered their van to transport the supplies. More TEAN volunteers assembled the room and got it ready for its very excited new excited occupant. Notably, the family who provided transportation also formed a lasting connection with this family. TEAN is honored to facilitate such powerful community bonds.