Every Friday in SAD 22, which encompasses seven schools in Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport, chili, cheeseburgers, sandwiches, salads, cookies, dinner rolls and other leftovers were routinely thrown out – until the fall of 1999. Each week, boxes of food that hadn’t sold at lunch landed in the dumpster.

To Peter Hastings, then a Hampden Academy junior, such a waste of food seemed a shame in a world full of people who are starving or malnourished. Even in the Greater Bangor area, hunger and homelessness are significant problems. So he came up with a way to help address both problems of hunger and disposal of usable food.

Hastings persuaded the kitchen director of Reeds Brook Middle School to allow him to package the leftovers, along with food from Hampden Academy, and distribute them to the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter.

Hastings found the hardest part of getting the program running was finding drivers to distribute the food on Friday afternoons after school. A very high percentage of Hampden Academy students are involved in several extracurricular activities, often taking up two, three or even four hours after school. So it was difficult to ask for additional time commitments.

The Hampden junior, however, appealed to the student body, asking for volunteers to drive the food to the shelter on Friday afternoons. Many students responded, offering to make the deliveries and Meals on the Go was launched.

Now every Friday afternoon, all of the leftovers from Hampden Academy and Reeds Brook Middle School are packaged up and ready to go. Hastings coordinates the effort by drawing up distribution plans and routes and sets the drivers into action. On a good Friday, as many as five or six large boxes of food are distributed to those in need; a much better solution than tossing good food into the garbage.

Hastings, now a senior, and his fellow students saw a need and responded, attempting to make a difference in the lives of people. The volunteers do not know the homeless whom the Meals on the Go program benefits; they share the bond of knowing that everyone needs food and shelter and a willingness to help people.

In Hasting’s words, “The Meals on the Go program has helped me to confront the issue of homelessness in our society of relative affluence. Instead of averting my eyes and thoughts from the people I see when I drive down Main Street in Bangor, I now feel that I am doing something to make their lives slightly better. In the end, this project is not really about homelessness or donating food and time, this project is about earning respect – we earn theirs and they earn ours – and our community is a better place.”

Student volunteers and drivers who make Meals on the Go a reality include Hampden Academy seniors Peter Hastings, Shelley Megquier, Jen Philbrook, Tristan Gluek, Chris Chase, Morgan Cashwell and Alex Temple; juniors Brendan Morrell, Ben Jewell, Cathy Boucher, Sam Kingsbury, Hilarie Wilson, Peter Maccone, Jillian Campbell and Lindsey Parsons. All of them are very involved in activities and sports at school, but made time to help people they don’t know because they believe in a cause.

Having so many student drivers is a true testament to the spirit and attitude of Hampden Academy.

Student Union is written by students at Hampden Academy and Brewer, Old Town and Orono high schools. The weekly column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. Send comments, including your name, hometown and telephone number, to bdnstyle@bangordailynews.net or Student Union, Style Desk, Bangor Daily News, Box 1324, Bangor, ME 04401.

INSIGHT ON ADDICTION EASES PAIN

The article Chelsea Dwyer wrote on heroin addiction touched home for me. I am the mother of two sons, 19 and 20, who have gotten caught up in this horrid addiction. At this writing, both sons say they are clean, but everything I read, and/or watch on TV doesn’t promise a happy ending.

I understand that only 2 percent of heroin addicts actually make it out alive, so to speak. My boys’ disease (addiction) came to light about a year ago. They have both been through detox and rehab several times. They’ve both attended counseling sessions, AA meetings, and had the love of family behind them to assist in their recovery. Both have failed to stay clean for any length of time.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is an addiction/disease and they will relapse. But every time they relapse, I feel as if I’ve lost them all over again. The strain is at times unbearable, but as their mother I feel I have to be there for them in some manner.

It was wonderful to read Chelsea’s article and know that I am not alone in this hellish existence and that it is about time that the public realizes that an addict doesn’t start out intending to be an addict. Even if they are addicts, they are still someone’s mother, son, brother, sister and not just a junkie.

I understand when Chelsea talks about “cursory and judgmental” comments. I’ve actually had close friends, who know of my sons’ addiction, say terrible things such as, “these junkies, can’t wait to get the next fix,” “they are nothing but low-life,” “what a waste of oxygen,” “they are nothing but oxygen thieves.”

These close friends weren’t talking about my sons, but junkies in general, and had no concept how their opinions would, could, did hurt me as their mother.

I commend Chelsea for her insight and extend my hopes to Nicole Stinson that she can move on in a positive manner and rebuild her family life. I also want to say that if Nicole ever needs someone to talk to, who does understand what she went through, that I would be more than willing to listen. Possibly, we could learn from each other.

– C. Nation, Whiting.