Since 1905, Maine Seacoast Mission has helped generations of children and families have a merry Christmas through its Christmas Program. If you or someone you know needs assistance in placing presents under the tree this year, families can now sign up to recieve gifts for children under 18.  

The Christmas Program serves residents of Addison, Beals Island, Cherryfield, Columbia, Columbia Falls, Deblois, Harrington, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Machias, Milbridge, Steuben, Mount Desert Island towns, and islands served by the Sunbeam. In 2023, more than 9,000 gifts were distributed to individuals in the Mission’s service area.

Once a family’s request is received, Mission staff arrange a day for parents and guardians to shop for presents. Alternatively, parents and guardians can pick up or have delivered pre-selected items that match requests as best as possible. In addition to toys, children can receive books, clothing, other small items, and toiletries. Based on age and preference, families receive several gifts for each child. Gifts can either be left unwrapped or wrapped in the Mission’s iconic white parchment paper tied with red string. 

Families can sign up to shop or receive gifts from the Christmas Program here or contact Community Engagement Coordinator Kaysie Logan at [email protected] or (207) 598-6799. 

For more than 100 years, the Mission has helped make sure that families and individuals have presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Seniors living on islands served on the Sunbeam recall the mittens, oranges, and toys Santa gave them wrapped in white paper and tied with red string. During tough years, these might have been the only presents they received. Now, decades later because of the continuing generosity of donors, the Mission provided more than 9,000 gifts to over 1,100 people living in Washington and Hancock Counties and on outer islands served by the Sunbeam.  

“The Mission’s Christmas program is a tradition that goes all the way back to our founding,” says President John Zavodny. “With the help of donors, and volunteers who wrap each gift in white paper and red string, the Mission can make Christmas a little more joyful for many.”     

The 2024 Christmas Program wish list and Amazon wish list are now available. Monetary donations are also welcome, which will help the Mission fulfill specific requests.  

Gifts and cards can be mailed to: 

Maine Seacoast Mission Christmas Program 

PO Box 428 

6 Weald Bethel Lane 

Cherryfield, ME 04622 

Any items should be sent to the Mission before Monday, December 2.  

Checks should be addressed to:  

Maine Seacoast Mission Christmas Program 

P.O. Box 600 

Northeast Harbor, ME 04662 

The Mission would like to properly acknowledge all contributions, so please include a full name and address on any package or letter sent to the Mission.  

Families with children under 18 can sign up to receive gifts this year, families can either have elves choose gifts or they can go shop on the Downeast campus in Cherryfield. The Christmas Program provides gifts for families in Addison, Beals Island, Cherryfield, Columbia/Columbia Falls, Deblois, Harrington, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Milbridge, Machias, and Steuben, on Mount Desert Island and the outer Islands supported by the Sunbeam. 

Learn more about the Christmas program as well as ways to support the Mission year round. For any questions about donating to the Christmas program contact Devin Mack at [email protected] or (207) 801-6010.  

The Mission’s Scholarships, Davis Maine Scholarship, and Journey programs are offering workshops for students in high school and college, as well as their parents, to help them through their transition to college as well as exploring occupations. These workshops, which are held online and in-person at the Downeast Campus, cover a wide range of topics including life skills, wellness, and college and career exploration and preparation. 

Different Secondary and Post-Secondary EdGE staff members are leading the workshops, with current Scholars and Journey alumni contributing and offering advice to younger peers as part of the presentations. Staff in the program have a combined 35 years of experience in higher education as well as working with students in kindergarten through twelfth grade.  

The scheduled workshops are: 

• Tuesday, November 5, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. College Application: Do’s and don’ts on Zoom 
• Thursday, November 21, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. College Essays: Advice to help start and organize your college application essays at the EdGE Center  
• Monday, December 2, 5:00 to 7:00 pm FAFSA Night: Get questions answered and help with the FASFA form at the EdGE Center
• Wednesday, December 18, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. FAFSA Night: Get questions answered and help with the FASFA form at the EdGE Center   
• Tuesday, January 7, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Cook with Us: Upgrade your college dorm meals and snacks at the EdGE Center 
• Monday, January 13, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Fitness, self-care, and wellness at the EdGE Center
• Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Budgeting 101 on Zoom 
• Monday, March 24, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Build your resume! on Zoom 
• Monday, May 19, 3:00 to 4:00 pm You have a job, now what?: Being professional at work at the EdGE Center

EdGE Secondary and Post-Secondary Program Director Christy Oliveri, says “These workshops are designed for students to explore their interests, skills, and abilities. They can also find out what college is like and how to navigate it when they get there. This makes it more likely they will both aspire to post-secondary education and be successful when they get there.”     

For more information about these workshops, please contact Christy at [email protected].  

What do you like to do here? Work, play, or otherwise? 

I like to take photos of nature and capture the natural beauty that we have within our community. It’s just really remarkable. I work at Wreaths Across America in their finance department and work on the lobster boat with my dad. I also attend school at Jonesport-Beals High School. 

Are you currently working on any special projects? 

It’s a personal project in a way to help shine more of a light on the Downeast community and bring more awareness to what resources our students need. It’s really hard for us to get the support that we need or the exploration that we want. I am on the Maine Department of Education Student Cabinet, and I have been talking a lot more about our area. I speak with my peers, the staff at my school, and anybody in the community, about what educational opportunities they would like to see within our area’s. 

What would people be surprised to learn about living Downeast? 

Probably one thing that people would be surprised to learn about living Downeast is the connection that we have with each other in the community. We get to know everybody. There’s not really a person that we don’t know whether it’s a family member that is a very distant relative or it’s somebody that just moved here. We like to actually get to know everybody on a personal level. 

What do you wish for your town? 

My wish for my town is to see the life brought back to the community. When my parents were younger the whole community showed up at all events to support each other, no matter what time of the year it was. All the kids that lived on the street would come together to pick up a game of baseball and the ones who didn’t play cheered for those who did. Everybody was there to support one another. Today, we still do have some of that, but most of these things have become just another part of history that our little town has lost.  

Is it important for the Mission work Downeast? 

The Mission has brought a lot of us together through their outreach programs and it has provided so many opportunities to us, whether it’s community members or students within school. They have supported us no matter what and has been a tremendous resource for Downeast Maine and its community members.  

I’ve now been aboard the Sunbeam for nearly eight months. I’ve met so many people in this job, and one of the most common questions I receive is: have you worked on the water before? I often wish I could answer yes and dive into conversation about an experience that so many coastal Mainers share. But in truth, the answer is a resounding no. I didn’t just work on the land—as a farmer for the better part of a decade, it feels more accurate to say that I worked in it. I tell them all that I was a terrestrial animal, that I’ve traded turf for surf. In many ways, working on the Sunbeam is entirely unlike anything I’ve done before. Instead of growing food, I am preparing it. The biggest occupational hazard is no longer throwing out my back or getting my hand crushed in a tractor implement, it’s eating too many cookies.  

But there are similarities with farming, too, though they are somewhat abstract. Both jobs root (or anchor, choose your metaphor) you deeply in a place, and reward close attention to it. When I worked on a farm in central Maine, my boss taught me to be attuned to changes in the landscape. When shadbush starts to bloom, the cabbage butterflies will be close behind, and it’s time to cover the brassicas. The fishermen I’ve met can talk about pieces of seafloor with as much familiarity as farmers can of their fields. When Mike and Storey decide, based on wind, tide, and swell, which route to take through the maze of small islands on our way to Isle au Haut, I can’t help but marvel at the depth of experience and knowledge that allows them to make what must be a complex assessment seem effortless.   

Another thing that farming and working on the water have in common is that they are easy to romanticize, but the reality is often far from glamorous. For all people who work in natural resource economies, and for us on the Sunbeam who work to support them and their communities, beauty coexists with drudgery, and the future looks uncertain, with many forces stacked in opposition. But I feel so lucky to have a job where I get to experience such beauty at all. It’s an honor to show up for the islands with fresh food and hot coffee as they navigate the challenges of the moment and chart their course for the future.

While for most of us, a trip to the doctor’s office might cause a slight inconvenience, for islanders a simple trip might become a multi-day affair. What might be a 30-minute wait for their appointment could turn into missing the next ferry and possibly the last trip of the day. Even a single appointment for a test includes a ferry or plane ride and advance planning. To help islanders both stay healthy and on island, Sunbeam Nurse Simone Babineaux has started offering preventative health screenings that include a point of care test called an A1C. 

These tests take about five minutes to complete. After getting the results, islanders can talk with Simone and she will help them understand the readings, give them educational handouts, and offer any consultation they might need. An island resident shared, “This test has taught me new things about my health and I appreciate the time and care that was taken to explain it to me.” Simone will also share the tests with the resident’s primary care doctors as well as any specialists, if they request that the results be shared.  Follow-up screenings may also be scheduled to measure progress.  

More than 30 people on islands have already started doing health screenings with Simone on a regular basis. She is also doing follow-ups with residents, through either phone calls, texts, or emails if people are looking for more support or resources. Simone is also there to “just listen” if islanders want to talk.  

Simone hopes to start cholesterol point of care testing in the near future, the third factor that helps identify cardiovascular risks.   

Learn more about the work the Mission is doing on the Sunbeam.