Maine Guard family support program looking for volunteers

BANGOR – A family support program to help spouses, children and relatives of Maine National Guard members is being reconfigured and expanded, and organizers are seeking volunteers to help with various aspects of the program.

The Maine National Guard Family Support Program will reach out to families in both the Maine Air National Guard and Maine Army National Guard, according to Lt. Todd Nadeau, public affairs officer with the Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing.

A key meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 5 on the Bangor Air National Guard base adjacent to the Bangor International Airport.

The first meeting will focus on children and will feature a variety of activities for different age levels. Trained counselors will be on hand to discuss family members’ concerns in a casual atmosphere. Up to 100 children are expected at the meeting, which will occur during a regularly scheduled training weekend for the 101st Air Refueling Wing.

Nadeau said the 101st Air Refueling Wing’s family support program had been active during the early 1990s with Desert Storm and other military campaigns. But a key volunteer organizer of the support group left the position last summer and it lapsed into inactivity.

About a month later, the specter of terrorist attacks became a reality with the Sept. 11 suicide crashes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. While National Guard members from Maine have not been deployed, some have been called to active duty. Family members left at home must manage finances and other practical matters on their own.

“As world events changed, our family program became much more important. We want to be sure a program is in place to meet the needs of deployed troops and family members left behind,” Nadeau said.

This time, the support program wants to include families from the Army National Guard. Nadeau and others are working with Sgt. 1st Class Barbara Claudell in Augusta, the Army National Guard’s statewide family support program coordinator.

“While most people think of family programs as being activated in times of crisis, we’re trying to be proactive,” Nadeau said. A telephone network, regular get-togethers and other functions are among activities usually planned by a military family support network.

Training will be provided for family support program volunteers. Interested volunteers and those seeking further information are asked to call 990-7604, or, toll-free, 1-888-625-7200.