UMaine community giving back during holiday season

Editor’s note: This is not a complete list; additions may be made.

Several University of Maine groups are leading charitable efforts to give back to the community throughout the holiday season.

The Black Bear Exchange, UMaine’s food pantry and clothing exchange, will provide Thanksgiving meals to its clients who will be in the area for the holiday.

The Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism is collecting food items for Thanksgiving meal baskets for families connected to the Black Bear Exchange.

Requested items include turkey, stuffing, squash, carrots, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and pies. A family meal can be sponsored for $10. Items can be dropped off at the Bodwell Center in the Memorial Union through Nov. 16.  

The center also is recruiting volunteers to help Penquis, a Bangor nonprofit organization, with pickup of turkeys from the Free the Z Turkey Drive Nov. 16 and 19. The annual event is sponsored by local radio station Z107.3. Signups are online.

A gift collection for children in need will be coordinated by the Bodwell Center, the Salvation Army and Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine. Gift suggestions will be posted online at the end of November, and donations can be dropped off in the Bodwell Center.

For more information about the Bodwell Center and its initiatives, contact Lisa Morin at lisa.morin@maine.edu, 581.4194.

The Classified Employees Advisory Council (CEAC) will collect donations of nonperishable food and personal care items for the Black Bear Exchange throughout the holiday season. Donation boxes have been placed in Alumni Hall, rooms 201 and 213; the Engineering Dean’s Office in the AMC Building; the Safety and Environmental Management Building in York Complex; the Keyo Building; the Parking and Transportation Services Office and Fogler Library. Donations will be accepted through Dec. 7.

The Professional Employees Advisory Council (PEAC) is co-sponsoring the Solidarity Harvest on Nov. 16 along with the International Student Association, Office of International Programs and Bodwell Center.

Volunteers will pack at least 1,300 locally sourced Thanksgiving meal baskets for families in need at the annual day of service run by Food AND Medicine, a nonprofit organization in Brewer. Transportation will be provided for three-hour shifts leaving from campus. Registration for volunteers can be completed online. For more information, contact Sarah Joughin, joughin@maine.edu.

A group of student-athletes will partner with the Maine Business School’s MBS Corps to decorate for the holidays and visit with residents at the Phillips-Strickland House in Bangor on Nov. 26.

Throughout November, volunteers from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Eat Well Volunteer Program will continue to visit four food pantries in Hancock and Washington counties: Loaves and Fishes (Ellsworth), What’s For Supper (Mariaville), Bucksport Community Concerns Pantry (Bucksport) and Sea Coast Mission (Cherryfield). At these food pantries, trained Eat Well Volunteers not only deliver the produce (which was gleaned and/or donated by UMaine Extension’s Master Gardener Volunteers), they also offer cooking tips and demonstrations, food safety education and one-on-one assistance with meal planning.

Eat Well Volunteers bring free information and resources, including spices, recipes and useful tools like meat thermometers. They also prepare the recipes in advance so that people may taste a recipe before obtaining the ingredients. This month, Eat Well Volunteers will be providing information about how to prepare baked apple crisp, apple coleslaw and turkey. These volunteers, who have been visiting one of these food pantries about twice a month since July, will wrap up their season at the end of November.

PHS 4-H, a UMaine Extension 4-H club in Cumberland County, will be preparing a meal at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland from 4–6 p.m. Dec. 19. The club also will shop for ingredients beforehand.

UMaine Extension’s Cumberland County office in Falmouth is hosting its fifth annual clothing drive to benefit Preble Street Resource Center, a Portland-based nonprofit that provides resources and services to those experiencing poverty, hunger and homelessness. Every year, this clothing drive collects hundreds of clothing and toiletry items that have been donated by Extension volunteers, employees and community members. For more information, visit the website or contact Lynne Hazelton, lynne.b.hazelton@maine.edu.

Alpha Tau Omega will host its annual Blue and Gold Christmas, a philanthropy event that collects donations of non-perishable food items, toiletries and clothing. This year, donations will be given to Bangor-based nonprofit Partners for Peace. Teams from Greek Life and other student organizations will be given a tree to decorate, along with a donation box. The trees will be on display in the Memorial Union from Dec. 3–11. If interested in having a tree and box, contact Justin Alcorn, justin.alcorn@maine.edu. There also will be a tree for general donations not specific to an organization.

Pi Beta Phi and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) will host the annual Pi Phi/FIJI Christmas event from 6–8 p.m. Dec. 7 at the FIJI fraternity house, 79 College Ave. Donations of new, unwrapped toys for Cross Roads Ministries Resource Center in Old Town will be collected during the reception. Light refreshments will be served.  

UMaine’s annual employee holiday lunch will take place at Wells Conference Center from 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Dec. 11. Members of PEAC and CEAC will be in the lobby of Wells collecting nonperishable food items and household supplies to benefit the Black Bear Exchange. Golden Key also will be accepting new hats, gloves, mittens and socks as part of its Warmth Drive.

MBS Corps is partnering with the Salvation Army to support the organization’s Adopt-A-Family program. Members of MBS Corps will table in the lobby of the D.P. Corbett Business Building from Dec. 10–14. Last year, more than 100 gifts were collected for families in need.

Contact: Cleo Barker, 207.581.3729