Northeast COMBAT is 25 years strong

Editor’s note: On the occasion of Northeast COMBAT’s 25th anniversary, today’s column takes a different approach than usual. It was written by COMBAT Executive Director John Supranovich of Bangor.

In 1972 I was a 27-year-old veteran just returned from overseas to my former job as an announcer at WLBZ radio. Young and energic, I was filled with a fire in my belly to become active in my state and community. Increasing numbers of listeners were calling to complain about the way they’d been treated by a small number of businesses that did not mirror the standards of the majority of merchants. When I tried to help, I could find no state or federal agency that would deal effectively with individual consumer complaints. I felt helpless.

Intent on doing something about the problem, I invited several friends who were also active in the commnity to meet in my apartment on Essex Street. We agreed that since Maine had no Better Business Bureau, no Public Interest Research Group, no public advocate, no grass-roots organization to speak out on behalf of the interests of Maine consumers there was a need for consumer protection, education and advocacy. We began planning to form a consumer group we later named “COMBAT” (Consumers of Maine Bringing Action Together).

None of us had ever started an organization before but we saw the need for a consumer group and determined that what we didn’t know, we could learn. Soon we opened a tiny office in space donated by the Bangor Unitarian Church, installed a phone line, and rented a post office box. It wasn’t long before our phone began to ring constantly and the mail box filled with requests for information, assistance and educataional programs or suggesting advocacy on public interest issues such as utility rate reform and milk pricing. With no blueprint for building a consumer organization, COMBAT volunteers had to make it up as we went along.

We were very clear on one issue: We didn’t want COMBAT (despite its name) to be adversarial. It was then and shall always be our belief that the consuming public and the business community are not natural enemies, but natural allies. Our approach would be friendly, cooperative, and objective. We would build bridges of cooperation. But if a business repeatedly engaged in unfair practices, we would be aggressive and tenacious. Our philosophy has worked better than we ever imagined.

Twenty-five years later, COMBAT has established a working relationship with major corporations in all 50 states and every state, federal, and private agency dealing with consumer assistance, education, protection, product safety, regulation, or public interest issues. COMBAT has grown from a gorup of volunteers in a living room to become a respected leader in the consumer movement and recognized by government sources as the oldest such organization in the country.

More important perhaps is that COMBAT has mediated 100,000 disputes for our neighbors and provided other services to three times that number. From the mentally and physically challenged young man who lost $29.95 to a mail order company to the 73-year-old widow who was cheated out of $43,000 by a fly-by-night home repair outfit, COMBAT was there to fight for justice. Business people often call COMBAT for assistance when they are in the role of consumer.

In the public arena we have fought for utility rate reform, health care reform, reduced milk prices, fair treatment of the elderly in nursing homes, control of fraudulent mail order and telemarketing, product safety, regulation of cable television, policing of home repair rip-offs, laws to protect consumers from dishonest automotive mechanics, election reform, and many more issues.

It is remarkable that COMBAT has accomplished so much without state or federal funding and without money from agencies like the United Way. COMBAT employs no paid executives and unpaid volunteers perform most work. COMBAT’s total annual budget of roughly $20,000 (raised entirely through memberships and events) is far less than the salary of one paid employee in most helping organizations. Like most families, COMBAT lives hand-to-mouth. We have demonstrated that a “Big gun is a little gun that keeps on shooting” and that volunteers working for their community ITALIC can UNITALIC make a difference.

It’s impossible to condense 25 years of struggle into one column but the good news is that despite its small budget and reliance on volunteers, COMBAT is still working to protect and inform Maine people after 25 years in the tenacious pursuit of justice. We are intensely proud of our record.

So, now it’s 1997, I’m a gray bearded old man. Several volunteers have been with COMBAT for as long as 15 to 18 years. Even after years of struggle, we have the same fire in our bellies to help our beloved state of Maine and our neighbors. Our biggest disappointment is that although thosuands of people and more than 300 businesses have joined COMBAT over the years, only a fraction of the more than 300,000 who have benefited from COMBAT’s work have chosen to join or send a contribution.

So, as we celebrated our 25th anniversary, we ask only one thing of the people and businesses of Maine. We have done our part. Now, if you have ever been helped by COMBAT, or if you are a merchant or professional who truly believes that consumers and business can work together for the common good, please consider sending your tax-deductible contribution today. We can do the work, as we have for 25 years. We need your suport to continue.

Thanks for a great quarter century. We look forward to the next 25 years.

Consumer Forum is a collaborative effort of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT. Send your questions to Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. COMBAT is a membership organization with basic dues of $10 a year. For membership information write to the above address. Please enclose a large, stamped, self-addressed envelope.