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Patti’s Dec. 9 “Inside New Gloucester” Column

gnghs-chorus

The Gray-New Gloucester High School Chorus leads a Christmas carol sing-along on the front steps of the New Gloucester Town Hall on Nov. 27.

Holiday assistance needed

Sponsors and donations are being sought to help your neighbors in need. How would you like to make someone’s holiday season a little brighter this year by providing a meal and some gifts at Christmas, or making a monetary donation? It’s easy to do – here’s what you need to know.

The Caring Community of Gray-New Gloucester is a volunteer group that coordinates holiday assistance for individuals, families and senior citizens who reside in either of the two towns. The tremendous support from the community is what makes this program so successful.

You can help by volunteering to be a sponsor and ‘adopt a family’ or consider giving a monetary donation. Each year the CCGNG accepts applications for holiday assistance and then solicits sponsors to provide food baskets and gifts for children up to 18. The CCGNG then matches up applicants with sponsors. Sponsors can request if they’d like to help an individual or a whole family. The CCGNG provides information and guidelines for sponsors to follow.

Individuals, families, neighborhoods, civic organizations, school groups, businesses and churches can be sponsors. Meals cost about $25 for an individual, $50 for a family of two to four, and $75 for a family of four or more. Gifts cost about $75 to $100 per child. There continues to be a big need for sponsors. In 2015, the number of applications far surpassed the number of sponsors, when more than 160 Christmas food baskets were distributed.

Are you interested in becoming a sponsor this Christmas? Contact Mike Marcotte at gngcaring@gmail.com. Monetary donations are needed as well. Donations can be sent to CCGNG, P.O. Box 1244, Gray, ME 04039. Direct any questions you may have to Christina Foster at 233-0828 or winkers92@yahoo.com. For more information, go to GNG Caring Community on Facebook.

For Patti Mikkelsen’s complete column in the Lakes Region Weekly, go to http://news.keepmecurrent.com/inside-new-gloucester-69/