STONINGTON — The Penobscot East Resource Center kicked off the new year with a nice present from another area nonprofit organization.

The gift was a $16,500 check from the East Penobscot Bay Environmental Alliance. The organization was formed in 2001 primarily to oppose the location of a fish farm off the western shore of Deer Isle and to conserve the area’s coast and promote environmentally appropriate uses of East Penobscot Bay. The alliance’s membership includes property owners, fishermen, business people, environmentalists, artists and recreational users of the bay.

In making the contribution, the organization told Penobscot East Executive Director Robin Alden that it hoped to help the resource center “with its very important work .... and we can think of nothing more appropriate for the organization than to do what we can to further your efforts to restore the traditional fin fishery to our area.”

In a statement announcing the gift, Alden said, “we are very grateful to EPBEA for this generous gesture. The work that EPBEA has done to promote the environmentally appropriate use of East Penobscot Bay is very compatible with Penobscot East’s mission to ensure a future for eastern Maine fishing communities.”

Penobscot East’s announcement of the gift came just days after it reported that it was transferring financial management of its endowment funds to the Maine Community Foundation (MCF). Penobscot East was successful in meeting the foundation’s 25/25 Endowment Challenge, which began in 2008.

“The Maine Community Foundation has an excellent track record of managing nonprofit endowments,” Walter Reed, chairman of Penobscot East’s board, said in a statement. “This service allows us to focus on our mission and strengths, working with eastern Maine fishing communities.”

“We were able to meet the community foundation’s endowment challenge by raising $25,000 from many individual members of our donor community,” said Penobscot East Administrative Director Bobbi Billings. “We are extremely grateful for their generosity and this endorsement of our work.”

The Maine Community Foundation currently manages more than 100 endowments of different sizes for nonprofit groups around the state of Maine.

“Maine relies on the critical work done by its nonprofits,” said Meredith Jones, the Maine Community Foundation’s president and CEO. “Managing their endowments is one way we can help them to grow and prosper.”

Through its diversified Primary Investment Portfolio, the community foundation offers nonprofit organizations access to institutional investment strategies and management normally available only to large investors. The foundation employs multiple professional investment managers with experience in specialized sectors of the investment markets.

“We were honored to have received the endowment challenge from the Maine Community Foundation — it was a terrific vote of confidence in our capacity,” said Reed. “Now investing with them will help to keep Penobscot East on sound and sustainable financial footing.”

For more maritime news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.