Out of the limelight, with no radio advertisements, no local news coverage, tucked away on a short road in Hampden is the Oasis Food Cupboard and a family greeting and sharing with everyone in need every Monday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Breads, canned goods, staples for everyday meals, fresh fruit, vegetables and frozen foods are all given with huge smiles and warm welcomes. If you can’t make it to them for some reason as soon as they get word off they go to houses in need, helping day or night.

Not short on ideas or plans but very short on funds, the Oasis is a refuge from the storm that has settled into the normal life that mill workers and plant employees knew as enough to make ends meet. The Oasis fills the bill on all accounts, boldly trudging along helping those in need, not tooting its own horn, but quietly trying to do good for local Maine people.

I know the Bangor Daily News has a job reporting the news and doing it well for so many years like it has, but I find myself saddened when I hear that “too much good news isn’t good for the paper” or “it ran a food cupboard article last month.” If the need for all the food cupboards was gone tomorrow nothing would make me happier, but sadly it won’t be.

They call it “good news” or a “food article” that a wonderful place like the Oasis is in Hampden to help all, but I call it Maine families needing to know and letting it help the ones who need it. I’d like the Oasis to get the coverage it deserves. Local companies, groups and organizations need to step up to the plate and help the Oasis help others.

Karen Upton-Bean

Hermon