Walk Around the Pond Fundraiser Set for Grand Isle on Saturday

GRAND ISLE---The annual Walk Around the Pond fundraiser will be held on Saturday, August 26, starting at 3 p.m. at Mizpah, located on 129 Doucette Road in Grand Isle. All are welcome to participate or gather at the retreat for the special event.

Each year, hundreds of people participate in this event by purchasing candles in honor of a loved one which are placed around Mizpah’s pond for the luminary walk. Others purchase a name plate for a loved one to be permanently placed on the 36-foot-long Cancer Survivor Wall, a commemoration of past and present survivors. For more information about donating to the fundraiser, visit www.mizpahmaine.com, email [email protected], or call (207) 358-8484.

Funding for Mizpah comes through donations generated by this annual event. Mizpah is a non-profit organization that is open to the general public, free of charge. The retreat features 15 buildings, beautiful viewing sites, and nature walks through trails winding through 109 acres. From May to October each year, it draws thousands of people including prayer groups and participants in large pilgrimages. Despite being non-denominational, the Catholic influence is easily observed and on the first Friday of each month, Masses are celebrated at 1 p.m.

Mizpah visitors can also stroll through an outdoor and handicap accessible “Way of the Cross” that encourages personal reflection and coping; fish a pond filled by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for children and adults; see over 20 flower gardens; stay at one of the retreat’s cabins; pray in the chapel; spend time in the welcome center; take in the many statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and others; and use the retreat’s golf carts to explore the trails.

Created in 1991, Mizpah means “helping another” in Hebrew. The project began with the bulldozing of a large pond area and, over the years, land, buildings, and a pond were added. Mizpah is a labor of love started by Richard Corbin and carried on by surviving family members. Corbin was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s Disease at the age of 22 and was expected to survive less than a year. He died in 2015 at the age of 71.

“I made a promise with the High Almighty that if my life be spared for a little while longer I would build a place for cancer people to come to,” Corbin said before his death. “A place for cancer survivors and people in grief to come and reflect, meditate, console and be at peace with each other and enjoy the beauty nature has to offer.”  

For over 20 years, Corbin made a daily appearance at Mizpah and was responsible for the site’s day-to-day operations. It was his last wish that his family take over Mizpah. Today, his brother, Roger, is the director of Mizpah and other family members serve in various roles.

“Dick (Richard) wanted to create a spiritual place for people in need to come to and to help them understand what they’re going through,” said Roger. “Spiritual healing is very powerful and the feeling of not being alone as they go through these challenging times is very important in the healing process. That’s the feeling you get at Mizpah.”