By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
It is long hours and little thanks, but Aid for Kids continues to push forward improving lives in the local community, state, nation and even the world.
If any message comes out of Aid for Kids, it is that good works come from working together and from the heart.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
DONATION — Aid for Kids was elected by the Aroostook County Community Building Program of the Maine Community Foundation for a grant to help with “green” renovations to its Distribution Center on Military Street in Houlton. At the presentation of the check are from left, Elsa Thibodeau, intern at Sen. Susan Collin’s office in Caribou; Philip Bosse, state office representative for Sen. Susan Collins; Marilyn Roper, volunteer administrative assistant, Aid for Kids; Dannette Ellis, volunteer director, The “Other Maine” Project of Aid for Kids; Lori Weston, Aroostook County adviser for the Maine Community Foundation and Dawn Degenhardt, volunteer executive director, Aid for Kids.
Recently, Aid for Kids was chosen as the recipient of a $2,500 grant from the Aroostook County Community Building Program of the Maine Community Foundation. Marilyn Roper, volunteer assistant administrator, wrote the grant.
The grant will be used at the Distribution Center, formerly Military Street Automotive, Inc., at 120 Military Street in Houlton for “green” renovations to the building, specifically an on-demand hot water heater and ceiling energy-efficient lights. There will be a need for more volunteers, donations and grants to help renovate the building to keep utility/heating expenses sustainable and make it more useable.
Aid for Kids’ Distribution Center provides more space for receiving/storing and distributing new, free quality merchandise to those in need. The facility allows an increase in inventory, as well as better accessibility by appointment for an increasing number of non-profit distribution partners, currently at 85.
For those in need, call Dannette Ellis, volunteer director of The “Other Maine” Project, at 532-4107.
