DEAR SUN SPOTS: Lewiston Housing is looking for two weekly volunteers to pick up bags of groceries at St. Mary’s Food Pantry at 208 Bates St. at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays and deliver them to residents at several of our housing sites. The time commitment each week is less than two hours. Background checks are required. For more information, call me at 520-4608 or email kdavis@lewistonhousing.org. — Kelly, Lewiston

ANSWER: This is an ongoing need. Please consider stepping up and taking on this small task.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I would like to have the phone number and address of Brown’s Appliance Services. I have a burner on my electric stove that’s not working. — Bonnie, no town

ANSWER: Brown’s Appliance Services can be reached at 212-3444. They are in Auburn but provide service to people in several towns.

I’m always happy to share recommendations with Sun Spotters so if you have any other appliance repair service you’ve had good luck with, please write in.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am responding to an item in Sun Spots that appeared on Jan. 13 regarding the writer who would like to donate their used Christmas cards. I totally agree. They are all so beautiful and I, too, hate to throw them out.

As an idea, here’s what I do with a lot of my cards. After removing the personal information, I use a pair of pinking shears and cut all around the front of the card. Then I use a one-hole paper punch and make a hole in an upper corner. Viola! A lovely name tag.

I am very often asked where I get my beautiful tags. This is just an idea. Thank you for your helpful and informative column. I look forward to reading it every day. — No name, no town

ANSWER: I do something similar and have a good stash of them now that I share with other family members to use as tag gifts.

This letter sparked another idea in my (sometimes scattered) brain. These cards would also make great place cards for the holiday table and bookmarks could be made from them too. If you have quite a few, perhaps your local library would like to have a basket of homemade bookmarks at the front desk to offer their patrons.

I agree that it does seem like a waste to toss these beautiful cards. The paper is so nice and sturdy and the sentiments are often lovely or quite humorous. I have even framed and displayed many cards over the years.

I know collage artists who use any kind of paper in myriad ways and are happy to explore how to create with all the colors, images, fonts, and words on these cards.

Blank areas of the cards could be cut and used for small art projects or at the very least, for a grocery list.

However, I don’t want to cause anyone to feel like they have to do anything with their greeting cards. Some folks just like to save and savor them from time to time. My dear mother had boxes of them that she went through and reread. I believe this helped her through some lonely times or when she simply wanted to relive her memories.

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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