By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

CANTON – Richard McCollister’s fortunes began to change on Thursday.

The 53-year-old Vietnam veteran, who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina two weeks ago, began the day by going to Sen. Susan Collins’ Lewiston office for help in getting food.

He was successful, but the help came with a bureaucratic wait.

“Carlene Tremblay in Senator Collins’ office called everywhere to try and get me some food, but it was all dead ends,” McCollister said.

He signed up for food stamps, but there was a week delay, until Tremblay made some calls.

“His No. 1 goal was to get registered with FEMA, and we were successful,” Tremblay said Friday.

Getting food, though, was the more gnawing problem.

“I was all day down there in Senator Collins’ office. All I needed was food. The bureaucracy is unbelievable. Coming home, I was so frustrated,” said the Hartford native.

That feeling vanished, however, when he returned to Primrose Lane off Bixby Road in Canton, to the trailer he now calls home, even though it’s for sale.

The porch was filled with boxes and boxes of food, clothing, kitchenware, bathroom goods, and even a blender.

“It was unbelievable! I was overwhelmed. Last week, people didn’t even know I was here. People still got a heart,” McCollister said, tears welling.

He credited the outpouring of support to a Sun Journal story on Thursday about his plight.

“The last thing I said was, Even a can of soup will be a help.’ Well, there is 150-something cans of soup and food here now. The response was like astronomical,” he said.

“I got cans and cans of soup, comforters, and one lady, she gave me a bike yesterday. It’s got a flat rear tire, but that can be fixed,” McCollister said.

“Some lady from Wisconsin who was visiting and read the story yesterday, she left $20 in an envelope for me at the town office,” he added.

Friday morning, the canned goods were stacked in piles on a counter. Clothes, blankets, towels and the mountain bike were placed beside a donated chair in the living room.

People left their names and phone numbers on boxes they donated in case he needed more help, McCollister said. He bought a phone and hooked it up so he could call and thank them personally, and to try and find his friends in New Orleans.

The Salvation Army gave him money, shoes and clothing. An area church gave him a table and chair.

Veterans in Auburn and Lewiston also wanted to help, and have contacted the Lewiston Veterans Center, office manager Lorraine Thibault said Friday.

Additionally, the center next week will give McCollister winter clothing from its military surplus warehouse in Sanford, she said.

Oxford County Emergency Management Agency Director Scott Parker in Paris helped McCollister get $250 from Wal-Mart, and got U.S. Cellular to donate a cell phone and six months of unlimited calling time, Tremblay said.

McCollister opened an account Thursday at a bank in Buckfield, but he can’t get access to his account at a New Orleans bank and the money he had saved in the past 12 years. The New Orleans bank was wiped out by Katrina.

But he wasn’t worried about finding a job.

“I carpentered half my life and I used to build houses here in the winter,” he said.

He wants to remain, for now, in Canton in the trailer.

“I’m comfortable where I am, but it’s for sale. They want $45,000 for it and two acres here. I’d like to buy the place, because it’s out of the way, but I can’t afford it right now,” he said.

On Friday, McCollister went looking for heating oil and winter clothes.

“I came from 100-degree weather, so I ain’t going to be ready for this. I weren’t prepared to have my world pulled out from under me at 53. This is a total climate change. A total everything change,” he said.