MEXICO – The River Valley area has been hit pretty hard by unexpected deaths during the past couple of years, deaths that have affected the area’s children.

To help meet the emotional needs of youngsters, Carol Thibeault, and a group of SAD 43-based people have gotten together with two health care agencies to plan the formation of a grief support group for grieving children and teens.

The organizational meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15, at Meroby Elementary School.

“We want to get information out and draw people in that agree there is a need,” said the Virginia Elementary School librarian.

Several guest speakers and volunteers from Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center will be at the organizational meeting to explain how such a program could work for children, teens and their families who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, relative or friend. The meeting will also be a time for people to attend who may be interested in being trained as a support volunteer.

Thibeault said the local area has recently experienced the deaths of two students to suicide and two teaching staff to car accidents.

Although area schools have crisis teams to try to deal with just such tragedies, she said an ongoing grief group may provide additional needed support. She said she knows of several students who have also spoken with their guidance counselors about the loss of relatives to cancer or some other disease.

“We need to get something in place to help,” she said.

Among those on the planning committee are David Walton, a guidance counselor at Meroby and Virginia elementary schools; Marcia Rajaniemi, a special education teacher at Mountain Valley High School; and Jane Gaudette, a Meroby elementary school teacher.

The group seeks to hammer out details next week on how it will work, said Thibeault.