UMaine Community Assists with Holiday Giving Efforts
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — More than $4,000 in cash donations, more than 675 toys, more than 400 children’s books, along with food, clothing and handmade fleece blankets were just some of the results of members of the UMaine campus community teaming up with surrounding communities to brighten the holidays for area families in need this season.
Bake sales, car washes, toy collection boxes, food bins and cash donation jars, holiday tree and wreath sales, raffles, calendars, handmade fleece blankets and children’s books were a handful of the many ways hundreds of volunteers raised money for gifts for children and adolescents in communities surrounding UMaine, according to participating volunteers.
Area charitable organizations will pick up, wrap and deliver holiday gifts to families in more than 40 surrounding communities, or, in the case of the Old Town-Orono Kiwanis, will distribute them to children and families at its annual holiday party.
Chi Omega, which raised $1,800 in cash through raffles and other fundraising efforts for the holidays, received a plaque and special recognition from Dean of Students Robert Dana for its toy drive success. In addition, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee raised more than $800 through collections at seven recent home games, and members of Kappa Delta Phi NAS collected varied amounts of canned foods and have pledged to help serve food at Manna Ministries kitchen in Bangor.
While a complete list may not be possible, since many 2010 holiday initiatives are still under way, some of the campus entities contributing to the effort included: the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteering (Holiday Sharing program); National Society of Collegiate Scholars; Res Life; Office of Student Affairs; Admissions Office; students and staff from the College of Natural Science, Forestry, and Agriculture; Student-Athlete Advisory Committee; Chi Omega; Kappa Delta Phi; Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Kappa Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, the UMaine Bookstore; College of Education and Human Development; The Marketplace, Office of Human Resources, Women’s Resource Center, Department of University Relations, Student Social Work Organization, Alternative spring Break, the UMaine Horticulture Club, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots, plus many other unidentified departments, offices and clubs.
Also distributing the books, toys, clothes, food and other donated items will be organizations such as Hands of Hope “Smile of a Child” Christmas Program, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Manna Ministries and Crossroads Ministries in Old Town, the Black Bear Exchange, and several area businesses and an organization of families of deployed National Guard troops.
Community support has included a cash contribution from the Orono Health Association, which donated $1,000 for gifts purchases, and members of the public who donated nearly $100 to students collecting at Marden’s in Brewer.
The Old Town-Orono Kiwanis typically oversees collection and distribution of many items received from many sources, including UMaine’s longstanding holiday book drive.
The book drive, begun by the College of Education and Human Development more than three decades ago, collected about 400 children’s books this year, including 50 donated by the UMaine Bookstore, which matched privately purchased books for the book drive.
Opportunities to contribute are still available. The Hands of Hope “Smile of a Child” Christmas Program will have a holiday tree in the Spirit Room of the Memorial Union through Dec. 23, with tags bearing names, ages and a short wish list from area children. Those who wish may take a tag and fulfill the gift wish, according to nursing student Nicole Marden, a Hands of Hope coordinator on campus and member of Alternative Spring Break. Last year, the tree accommodated 170 children.