Friends and acquaintances of Denise Blanchette of Searsport are working hard to help make life a little easier for her, and you can help.

Blanchette, the former director of the diagnostic unit at Kids Peace in Ellsworth, has a rare form of intestinal cancer for which there is currently no treatment.

She is also a single mother with a 5-year-old child.

To help the family during what is, understandably, a most difficult time, a benefit concert is planned for 8-11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.

The concert is sponsored by the Jobs for Maine’s Graduates Project Reach Program at THMS.

It will be held in the cafeteria of the school, which is located on Route 52.

Two bands, Magnetic Mary and the King Snakes, a blues band from Mount Desert Island; and Ben Block Band, a high school blues-rock band from Belfast, will donate their time so all proceeds can directly benefit the family.

Admission to the concert is $10 per person. Free refreshments will be provided by area businesses.

Blanchette, a Worcester, Mass., native, received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Assumption College. Unable to work, she is now at home, caring for her son.

Lara Ryder, Project Reach specialist at THMS, is overseeing arrangements for this fund-raiser.

Project Reach participants have started an account to help the family, Ryder said. If people would like to help but are unable to attend this concert, donations can be made directly to that fund.

Checks to help the family at this time can be sent to Lara Ryder, THMS, RR1, Box 5691, Lincolnville Avenue, Belfast 04915.

If you have questions about the concert, or about the fund, you may call Ryder at 338-3320, Ext. 137.

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Doug and Debbie Burr, captains of The Salvation Army in Bangor, have written to “all readers of the Bangor Daily News … to thank you for making Christmas brighter for thousands of people” in central and eastern Maine.

The Burrs wrote that, with your help, residents in 30 nursing homes, from Bar Harbor to Lincoln, received a visit and a gift from The Salvation Army; 400 families received food, clothing and coats for the holidays; and more than 6,000 needy children received toys.

“None of this would have been possible without your generosity through the Santa’s Helper Fund, the familiar red kettles, and the Angel Tree program,” they wrote.

“Thank you for enabling us to do all this for those who need us.

“It is our privilege to be able to serve this area through The Salvation Army.

“Happy New Year and God bless you.”

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We are pleased to recognize two local restaurateurs for being the only finalists from our state in the 2000 Restaurant Neighbor Award.

A program of the National Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, this award recognizes restaurateurs for outstanding community involvement, and is presented by the American Express Co.

The only Maine finalists for the 2000 award were Leith Wadleigh of Governor’s Restaurants, based in Old Town, and Michael Boland, owner of Rupununi and Havana restaurants in Bar Harbor.

Wadleigh was honored for formation of the Governor’s All-Maine Marching Band.

The all-volunteer band travels to communities throughout the state to participate in several small-town summer weekend celebrations that include a parade which, before 1998, often lacked a real, live, marching band.

Bolland was recognized for his effort to eliminate intolerance and help those in need through a biweekly fund-raiser to benefit the Maine Speakout Project and the Downeast AIDS Network.

Rupununi’s bartender collects gift certificates from area business to raffle during the events which, in three years, have raised more than $20,000.

Rupununi and Havana were recognized for collaborating on a drive to support the completion of a new Native American museum and, when Rupununi’s closes for the winter, the restaurant donates its remaining food to homeless shelters in Bangor and Ellsworth.

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Last September, we wrote that the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners would be leading the way in the Plant a Row program for the hungry, and they certainly did just that.

We have learned that Mainers contributed more than 25 tons of fresh produce to food pantries through this program during our 2000 growing season.

More than 400 home gardeners and farmers joined the effort, growing thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables.

Seed companies donating to the program included Johnny’s Selected Seeds of Albion, FEDCO of Waterville, and Sterling, Allen and Lothrop of Falmouth.

Barbara Murphy of the Oxford County Cooperative Extension Office in South Paris is already making plans for our state to participate in this nationwide project in 2001.

So, if you are one of those January garden planners who love leafing through the seed catalogs and start diagramming your garden, perhaps this will remind you to include a special row for this most worthwhile project.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.