LEWISTON — The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing recently dedicated two of its spaces, the demonstration kitchen, sponsored by the Hannaford Charitable Foundation, and Leisa’s Place, the lending library named in memory of Leisa Crane and gifted by her husband, Charlie Crane, and her friends who love to read.

The Hannaford Charitable Foundation Demonstration Kitchen is a state-of-the-art space featuring a fully-equipped kitchen for cooking classes, demonstrations, and other gatherings. 

Leisa’s Place, a lending library featuring more than 1,000 titles of books, DVDs, CDs and periodicals on a wide range of cancer care, nutrition and wellness topics, is available to anyone in the community.

“Leisa loved to read, and she loved libraries,” said Charlie Crane. “For her, being surrounded by shelves full of books was bliss. I like to think that guests who visit here looking for a book will feel Leisa’s hand gently guiding theirs, and they’ll hear a kind voice saying ‘I think you’ll like this one’.”

The dedication ceremony was held during the 2015 Dempsey Challenge Weekend, an event that raised more than $1.2 million to support the work and services of the Dempsey Center.