Call it serendipitous – a fortunate convergence of various forces.
The first part of the story was Lincoln Academy Climate Action Club’s creation of the reusable shopping bags, which have recently appeared around Damariscotta to apparently widespread acclaim. According to the club’s founder, Chloe Maxmin, in less than a month since they hit local stores and banks, about 925 bags have been sold.
The second part concerns Stephen Dixon’s fifth grade class at the Nobleboro School. Every year students sell paper, pencils and other schoolwork related necessities to raise money for a particular charitable cause. Most years their cause has been to some improvement at the school, like an attractive planting on the grounds.
Then enter Mariellen Whelan who had heard about the reusable bag campaign from a friend and who also happens to be a cousin of Stephen Dixon. In addition, she’s involved in the local Ecumenical Food Pantry project. She suggested that the class purchase the bags to donate to the Food Pantry.
So, with the $200 the students raised, they purchased 100 bags that were then donated to the Food Pantry to be handed out to families during the month of August.
Seven area churches are involved in the Food Pantry project, which serves an average of about 100 families a month, according to Whelan. The different churches alternate the responsibility of packaging the food each month, which is distributed at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle on Tuesdays.
Mimi McConnell, who works with St. Patrick’s Church on the Food Pantry project and will be coordinating distribution for August, said the food given to families includes such staples as eggs, milk, bread, cereal and produce from local farms in the summer. The bags are roomy enough to include most of the food stuffs, she added, and for larger families, two bags will be given.
If more bags are needed in the future, Whelan said additional money to purchase them will be raised in some way.
One other part of the story involves a local store, Supplies Unlimited, which donated colorful icons on the tags that will be tied to the bags. The tags, created by the fifth graders, say: “This bag is a gift to you from Mr. Dixon’s Fifth Grade Class at Nobleboro School 2009.”
