LEWISTON – Struggling Maine families will get a boost again this year as Hope House’s “Hope for the Holidays” kicks off with a Thanksgiving dinner at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at the Lewiston outreach center, 91 College St.

The center’s Christmas Shop will also open that night, making Christmas gifts, toys, decorations and clothing available for more than three weeks, to enable area families to provide a Christmas for their kids. Hope House staff expects record numbers of mothers to ask for help this year.

Other holiday activities will include Santa’s Workshop at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30, at the center, when area volunteers will sort toys donated for needy children, and a Christmas caroling party at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, when Hope House mothers and kids will carol at Clover Manor in Auburn and return to the center for a party and gifts.

These are also hard times for Hope House, making it difficult to keep its pregnancy and single moms’ support center afloat. Operators may be forced to shut down the buildings on College Street to get through the winter. They are exploring options that would enable the work to go on without the cost of maintaining those facilities.

For more information on Hope for the Holidays, call Hope House at 777-3776, or visit www.hopehousemaine.com.