When Cabins in the Woods opened last fall in Augusta, there were 21 fewer homeless veterans in Maine. And when the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor decided to provide those veterans with items needed for the holidays, it took members only a few hours to fill 21 bags of supplies.

On Monday, Dec. 3, Rotarian and veteran Daren Graves and fellow veteran Reid Hodgdon loaded their goods into a car and headed to VA Maine Healthcare System – Togus. They made their way to the wooded, 11-acre spot where the new cabins are occupied by previously homeless veterans and started knocking on doors to deliver the bags.

The idea started with a conversation between Rotary president Alice Mutch and vice president Irene Fowle, who were looking for a service project members could complete during a meeting. Fowle called Togus and spoke with Charlee Noble, residential case manager for Cabin in the Woods. Noble was delighted because as Fowle explained, “It was too soon for the recently homeless veterans to be on the list for Christmas items.”

Asked what to provide, Noble suggested household cleaning supplies, so the veterans could save their money to use for Christmas. So each cabin resident received a bag from Rotary containing wipes, paper towels, trash bags and other household items along with a Hershey’s chocolate bar and a Christmas card thanking them for their service. Families in two of the cabins have small children and Rotarians made sure gift bags with toys from Santa were included for them.

Noble pointed out there is only one shelter for women veterans with children in Maine. With Cabins in the Woods, there is now another option for female veterans to be with their families. In fact, she said, one of the cabins is occupied by a grandmother with a small grandchild.

Ages of the veterans range from 30s to 60s and one veteran spent 12 years living in a tent before moving into his cabin last fall, according to Noble. As one resident told Noble, “Coming from homelessness, you feel that you’ve been forgotten.”

Graves and Hodgdon said they were greeted warmly and thanked by the veterans receiving Rotary gift bags. And Fowle found the project lifted everyone’s spirits. “We haven’t done a ‘hands on’ project during a meeting before,” she explained. “We had 50 people show up to fill bags and they were all laughing and joking. The project gave back to us, too.”

More information about the project can be found at https://www.voanne.org/citw. For information about contributing, contact Noble at 461-3426.