Perhaps it’s the changing of the seasons that accounts for the “very big blanks” in the schedule of volunteers currently delivering Meals for Me in the Bangor area.

At least that’s what I hope as those who give of themselves are recognized and honored during National Volunteer Week this week.

Meals for Me, a program of Eastern Agency on Aging in Bangor, “is desperate for volunteers,” reports Gail Ward, nutritional director for Meals for Me.

And while this may just be part of the natural volunteer pattern, she said, particularly since some people are available in the winter and some in the summer, but not necessarily both, now is the time volunteers are most needed to bring hot meals to the elderly and homebound.

“It takes from one to 11/2 hours in the middle of the day – the lunch hour – for a volunteer to deliver the meals,” Ward explained.

“They come to our Bangor kitchen, pick up coolers filled with hot meals, and take a list of homebound, older people and a list of directions. They take the meal to the home, give them a little friendly hello, and that’s it.”

Any amount of time you are able to volunteer would be appreciated, Ward said.

“People who volunteer just once a month are just as important, and needed, as those who volunteer every day.”

And, she added, “we would even be happy to have people who are familiar with the Bangor area to be on call” as substitutes for regular volunteers.

The routes are very well mapped out, Ward told me, thanks to the efforts of one special person.

It was the late Walter Craven, a retired firefighter, who set up the Bangor Meals for Me routes.

Ward added that “almost all of our dining rooms” outside the Bangor area are in need of volunteers as well.

As she said, it may just be the changing of the seasons that’s producing fewer volunteers.

Let’s hope so and soon Meals for Me will have all the volunteers it needs.

If you can help, call volunteer scheduler Deb Faulkenburg during regular business hours at 941-2871, or Ward at (800) 462-9899.

Speaking of volunteers, congratulations to Jim Lester of Westport, recipient of the Maine Public Broadcasting Volunteer of the Year 2004 Award.

A volunteer for Maine Public Radio and The Great TV Auction for more than 10 years, Lester regularly reports for duty at the Portland studio by 6 a.m. during the annual campaign.

Additionally, Lester assists auction staff by picking up donated auction items throughout the state and each year logs nearly 2,000 miles delivering them to the Lewiston studio.

Information on health conditions, wellness, prevention issues, medications and more is available for those attending sessions of “MedlinePlus: A Web Resource to Enhance Your Health Care.”

Caring Connections of the YWCA Bangor-Brewer is sponsoring three free informational workshops on MedlinePlus, the consumer health Web resource of the National Library of Medicine.

The first session is 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, at the YWCA on Second Street in Bangor. It focuses on osteoporosis and bone health.

The second is 12:30 p.m. that day. The focus is breast health information.

The evening session, at 6 p.m., has general health as its focus.

Michelle Eberle, consumer health information coordinator of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/New England Region, is the presenter.

If you are interested in attending any of the sessions, call Caring Connections, 941-2808.

On behalf of Pine Tree Hospice of Dover-Foxcroft and Greenville, PTH director Theresa Boettner thanks its volunteers, whom she describes as “our life’s blood” and who are “absolutely vital in fulfilling Pine Tree Hospice’s mission to care for patients living with life-limiting illness, their families and caregivers.”

These volunteers not only share “their time, energy and expertise,” she said, but also “help those we serve to live life to the fullest.”

If you are interested in volunteering for PTH, its next training program will be held in June in Dover-Foxcroft. For more information, call 564-4346 or 695-5283.

Bill Rae of Manna Ministries reports the organization’s food supply is running low and is asking for your help.

Manna needs macaroni and cheese, soup, baked beans, ramen noodles, canned vegetables, pasta, tomato sauce and tuna fish.

Your donations can be delivered to Manna between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 180 Center St. in Bangor.

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