DEAR SUN SPOTS: Once again Lewiston High School’s Store Next Door Project is reaching out to its community for support for the coming season. We assist all students at LHS in getting new (or slightly loved but clean and in great shape) winter coats, boots, hats and mittens. Last year we shared more than 400 coats and jackets with our students!

In addition to the One Kid One Coat effort, we focus primarily on assisting youth and families experiencing housing instability and homelessness. The need grows every year, and we are struggling to keep up.

The Store Next Door offers a food pantry, a toiletry and hygiene products closet, new clothing and new undergarments, and basic household goods such as new pillows and bedding. Focusing on respect and integrity due all persons, our goal is to collect new items for regifting back into our Lewiston community.

We also maintain a supply of gift cards to address immediate needs when we do not have something already available in the store. The sky is the limit on helping students out so they can focus on their schooling and getting to graduation.

As always, thank you for your support. — Mary Seaman, McKinney-Vento Homeless Liaison, 207-795-4190, ext. 2214, mseaman@lewistonpublicschools.org

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Some of us at Lewiston High School are collecting bottles to help an orphanage in Haiti, Free the Kids, which was started by Lewiston native Father Marc Boisvert.

Our goal is to raise $500 by the end of the school year. We were wondering if there was someone in the Lewiston-Auburn community who would be interested in matching our efforts and goal with a dollar-for-dollar match.

If you are interested in doing so, please call me at 207-795-6791. Thank you very much. — Bernie Fortier, bfortier@lewistonpublicschools.org

GOOD MORNING, SUN SPOTS: I wonder if you would answer two questions for me. Could you give me the address of the organization that takes articles that teachers could use in their classroom?

Anyone, including stores and businesses, can donate folders, craft supplies, etc., to this organization, which stores them for teachers to use in their classrooms. They are free and a good way to recycle.

The place used to be next to where the Community Theater is now. I know you printed the information recently, but I did not need it at the time.

Second, what did President Barack Obama do to win the Peace prize? — Thanks! No Name via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots guesses you are looking for the SHAREcenter, which is at 15 Andrew Drive in Auburn, right behind East Auburn School. Call 207-333-6671.

As for the Nobel Peace Prize, recipients don’t necessarily “do” one specific thing. It’s a reflection of their actions over time, as with the 2014 recipients, Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai, who, according to nobelpeaceprize.org, won “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”

Obama won in 2009, also according to the website, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

His award is not the only one that has been controversial. Wikipedia notes that those given to Mikhail Gorbachev; Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin and Yasser Arafat; Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger; Jimmy Carter; Al Gore; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Liu Xiaobo; and the European Union were also questioned. Two committee members resigned over the 1973 award to Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Sumner Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary would like to thank all who donated items or worked on our recent auction. This event was a huge success because of the community effort and the generosity of friends and businesses in surrounding towns. The participation of all is greatly appreciated. The Auxiliary also wants to thank the Sun Journal for the wonderful service you provide. — Gail Eastman, president

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

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