LEWISTON — A Lewiston High School student was dumbfounded Tuesday when presented with a mountain bike at a holiday celebration for homeless students sponsored by The Store Next Door.

“He looked at us like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” Katie Krantz, a homeless youth advocate in the Lewiston school district and a staff member at The Store Next Door, said. “He just was flabbergasted, like he didn’t know what to say. You could tell this kid has never, ever been given something.”

After the celebration, the student, who walks to school every day, rode his new bike home. He was one of several dozen students who left school with presents.

The Store Next Door, a nonprofit organization supporting Lewiston’s housing insecure youth and parenting teens, is housed in Lewiston High School, run by school staff and operated solely on community donations.

Krantz and fellow store staffers Jamie Caouette and Joel Morse hosted the celebration that included food donated from DaVinci’s Italian Eatery, Labadies Bakery, Subway and The Italian Bakery.

“We asked these kids (for) a want, a need, and a fun item, and then every student got a gift card to go with it,” Krantz said. “Some of these kids were like, ‘I don’t know,’ it was like we had to pry (ideas) out of them. Half of these kids have never been asked, ‘What do you want?'”

The organization provided gifts to 54 high school students, 10 families, and 12 other students in the district this week.

The high school’s Jobs for Maine Graduates program collected gifts from school staff and the community requested by 40 of these students. Several local businesses and members of the community also purchased presents for students and families, including new clothing, household items and gift cards. Some students took the gifts home, unopened, for Christmas Day.

“Seeing the kids laughing, having a great time, it was like you could not tell these kids are homeless,” Krantz said. “To hear some of these kids say ‘I haven’t gotten a Christmas present in five years, six years,’ and they were laughing, they were excited.” She was especially happy to see some of the students bring friends to the celebration.

In addition to holiday gifts, one Lewiston High School teenager received kitchenware and cleaning supplies. The teen had just secured housing with New Beginnings, a Lewiston-based nonprofit that serves homeless and at-risk youth.

Krantz, who identifies homeless students in the high school, said there are more students in need now than she’s ever seen. This year, The Store Next Door helped over 100 students who were at risk of losing their homes. Some of them have since become homeless, she said.

Many homeless families and students are unable to find a new place to live, partly due to the high housing market. The list for Section 8 housing, a federal renters’ assistance program, is long and landlords often won’t rent to anyone under 18, Krantz said. Some students end up staying with relatives or friends, renting rooms in hotels, living out of cars or even outside.

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