Dear Sun Spots: Catholic Charities Maine, SEARCH program, (Seek Elderly Alone, Renew Courage and Hope) is desperately seeking 4-ply yarn!

Our yarn shelves are almost bare and we could sure use yarn, in all colors and in good condition, for our volunteer knitters.

SEARCH benefits from the work of about 20 volunteers who knit and crochet hats, mittens, scarves, slippers, baby clothing, lap robes and other warm apparel which in turn are given to the needy of all ages in Androscoggin County.

The yarn is donated and given to the knitters as needed. For more information about donating yarn, please phone the office at 784-0157. We are open every week day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Join us in the joy of giving and making someone happy and warm.

We are located at 270 Minot Ave., Auburn. Our program includes a group of wonderful volunteers who are assigned to elderly people who enjoy their reassurance calls or home visits. Thank you to column readers for your wonderful support in the past and looking forward to your yarn donations! With our deepest gratitude. – Phoebe Lowell, program director, Auburn.

Dear Sun Spots: Can you please find the address for Jenny McCarthy. She is an actress, author and former Playboy and MTV host. She is also an advocate for autism. – Greg, No Town.

Answer: Try contacting her at 8424-A Santa Monica Blvd 804, West Hollywood, CA 90069 or Jenny McCarthy, 2112 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404. Another option to try writing to her C/O William Morris Agency, One William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

You and other fans might be interested in noting that McCarthy’s son Evan was diagnosed with autism, which explains her interest in advocating for those with autism.

Autism is a devastating neurological and biological disorder typically affecting children between the ages of 18 months to 5 years of age. It affects each individual differently. Some individuals with autism are severely affected, cannot speak, require constant one on one care, and are never able to live on their own.

While others are less severe, can communicate, and eventually acquire the necessary skills to live on their own. Typically autism affects individuals in four key areas: Communication (verbal and nonverbal), social skills, behaviors and learning.

In addition, Sun Spots located the following list of famous people with autism, online at www.autismmclean.org: Matthew Laborteaux, who played Albert Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie;” Crispin Glover, who played George McFly in “Back to the Future;” Temple Grandin, professor/author/architect; Thomas Jefferson; Albert Einstein; artists Jonathan Lerman and George Widener; author Donna Williams; Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon; Bhumi Jensen, Thai prince, and Stephen Wiltshire, photographic memory artist.

For more on autism here in Maine, contact the Autism Society of Maine, 72B Main St., Winthrop, ME 04364, 1-800-273-5200. There are several listings for support groups and other resources online at their Web site at www.asmonline.org. Among them an Autism/Aspergers Support Group at Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick. Meetings are the last Tuesdays of the month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the conference rooms at MidCoast. FMI call 522-4339.

Dear Sun Spots: I am in need of a recipe for Food Preparer X500, made by the Creative Tech. Corp. of Brooklyn, N.Y. This pasta maker is destined for the dump without the above request. Thanks for any help. – Yula Puiia, Rumford.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, the phone number for this company has been disconnected and no further information is available. Perhaps readers familiar with this product will be willing to share some tips with you.

• Renovations to the Fortin Funeral Home’s Horton Street site featured in Tuesday’s column should have credited Landry Construction Corp. of Lewiston with the work. The contractor’s name was incorrectly submitted to the Sun Journal.

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). 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 posted at www.sunjournal.com in the Advice section under Opinion on the left-hand corner of your computer screen. In addition, you can e-mail your inquiries to [email protected].