Stand with Me is a story about a young man from Bangor, ME putting his passion, purpose, faith, and expertise to work for good by creating standing frames at low costs for families in need. What Scott Mitchell has accomplished professionally and personally is beyond impressive – he is not only on track to become a neurosurgeon, he also founded a non-profit that’s been giving back to families around the globe since 2013 while completing his undergraduate studies at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
Hancock Lumber’s partnership with Stand with Me began that same year when Scott was attending Bowdoin College and visited Hancock’s lumberyard a few miles from the college campus. As part of earning his dual degree in engineering at Dartmouth College and Bowdoin, Scott’s team needed to identify a social issue in the area of mobility and go to work on a solution. Scott’s experience with healthcare and rural medicine helped lead the team to focus on a way to build a pediatric standing frame with parts and pieces that could be sourced at a local hardware store. A standing frame is a medical device that helps children with severe disabilities stand in an upright position and perform weight bearing exercise. Kevin Hancock, Bowdoin ’88, got wind of Scott’s project and was instantly hooked. Since then, Hancock Lumber has been a proud supporter of Scott and his Stand with Me team.
In December of 2023, Kevin Hancock invited Scott to update Hancock Lumber’s board of directors and executive team at their BOD meeting. Along with hearing directly from Scott on recent updates, he shared this video, highlighting the impact just one standing frame makes for a family whose child can not stand on their own. Two years ago Hancock Lumber’s donation enabled his team to purchase a CNC routing machine to help streamline production in Guatemala where they produce over 300 units annually. To date, Scott and network of production facilities have built nearly 1,800 standing frames and have distributed those to families throughout Guatemala, Peru, Vietnam, Bangledesh, Zambia, and Ethiopia.
Stand with Me‘s mission is to develop, produce, and distribute affordable therapeutic home-care devices for children and adults around the world, while being a Christian ministry to their volunteers, patients, and sponsors. Stand With Me has distributed nearly 1,800 standing frames in nine countries!
Back in 2019, we created a post about the organization, our partnership, the products they make, and the work they do to serve children and families around the world. Keep up the great work, Stand with Me – we’re proud to partner with a fellow Mainer bringing his passion and purpose beyond our borders.