Christmas Project update
To the Editor;
Hard to believe, but Halloween is gone, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Seeing those children with their little painted faces and scary costumes makes us smile with memory and anticipation. We wish all kids could go through the holidays with a smile. Sadly, not all do. Right now, in our communities neighbors face hard times and lean pickings. We are sending you this letter to ask that you help us help needy children and their families over the holidays.
Starting in 2010, Abner Wade Masonic Lodge in Sangerville determined to provide Christmas dinners for the families of needy children. We started with 128 families, and the number has increased every year. Last year we provided meals for 520 children and their families. We partner with Dover-Foxcroft and Milo Kiwanis, and the Parkman Grange who establish lists of needy children in order to provide them with toys. The Lodge assembles meals, transports them to distribution sites, and when the families pick up toys, a box of food is given to each family for their Christmas dinner. Members of Abner Wade Lodge, and Masons from Guilford, Dover-Foxcroft and Milo hand out the meals.
Our Christmas project is big for a small Lodge, and although Lodge members contribute labor and money, the generous donations of individuals and businesses are much needed and greatly appreciated. We have to purchase a major portion of what we distribute, however, so monetary contributions make our project possible. We also need and value donation of food products for distribution. We also receive some matching funds from the Grand Lodge of Maine.
Each family gets a 10- to 15-pound turkey, five pounds of potatoes, squash, turnip, frozen peas, onions, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce and other items to make a meal that will feed five to seven people with leftovers.
Any contribution you make will be an act of kindness to those in need over Christmas. Financial contributions can be sent to Abner Wade Lodge #207, P.O. Box 27, Sangerville, ME 04479, attn: Christmas Project. If you have something to contribute in kind, or to ask questions about our project, call Lance Burgess at 207-876-2063.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Blaine Nuite, Master
Abner Wade Lodge