Bangor organization to honor outstanding volunteers

BANGOR – A group of outstanding volunteers will be the honored guests at the annual 2 Those Who Care Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at the G. Peirce Webber Campus Center at Husson College. The awards presentation will be televised as a primetime special on WLBZ 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

Hosted by News Center anchors Matt Friedman and Donna Gormley, 2 Those Who Care will pay tribute to men and women from throughout eastern Maine who unselfishly make a difference in the lives of others.

In addition to the 2 Those Who Care winners, C. Shawn Yardley of Bangor will receive the John W. Coombs Award, a volunteer recognition award of the United Way of Eastern Maine since 1984. Eastern Agency on Aging will receive the Agency of Distinction Award.

The following is a brief highlight of the honorees and their outstanding community work:

. Margaret Baillie of Bangor was nominated by Dennis Marble of the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. She has been a longtime supporter of efforts to nurture the area’s most vulnerable neighbors. Through her dedication to Community Health and Counseling Services and the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, she supports local citizens whose age, poverty or behavioral health issues make it difficult for them to experience safe, independent lives.

Baillie has been a board member at the shelter for nearly 20 years. Her service to the homeless has represented every level of involvement and commitment, from serving as president of the board and organizing fund-raising activities to helping with meals and cleaning the shelter.

. Attorney J. Bradford Coffey of Bangor, nominated by Sarah McPartland-Good of the University of Maine Foundation, has been more deeply involved in community service than most people twice his age.

He has served as a board member for the Shaw House, which includes a six-year term as chairman; the Good Samaritan Agency; the Penobscot Valley Health Association and Pine Tree Legal. He is active with YMCA’s Camp Jordan, the Volunteer Lawyer Project, the Phillips-Strickland House, the mock trial program at Hampden Academy and Bangor Rotary.

Coffey is a deacon and teaches Sunday School at All Souls Church. He is married and has three young children.

. Charles Sias of Bangor was nominated by Eastern Agency on Aging. He has dedicated himself to helping the Bangor area senior population. In 1999, he was the driving force in developing and organizing the Penobscot County Area TRIAD, an agreement between Penobscot County law enforcement agencies, senior citizens and senior service agencies to reduce criminal victimization of the elderly and enhance law enforcement services to mature adults.

Sias also created the “File of Life” program. Frequently, when an older person has an emergency, he or she becomes unable to tell an emergency medical technician about medical conditions, prescription drugs or allergies. The “File of Life” kit includes a pouch held by magnets to the refrigerator door and containing all vital health information. That simple, yet effective, program saves lives by enabling emergency personnel to treat the person with full knowledge of the individual’s medical needs.

. C. Shawn Yardley of Bangor was nominated by John Diamond of the University of Maine System. He exemplifies the spirit of the John W. Coombs Award through the selflessness with which he has shared his time and energy with his community, family and friends. The list of agencies with which Yardley is involved reads like the “yellow pages” of nonprofits in the Bangor area. They include the Bangor YMCA, the United Way of Eastern Maine, the Maine Children’s Trust Fund, Bangor Rotary, Maine Adoption Placement Services, Catholic Charities of Maine, the Maine Mentoring Partnership, Communities for Children, the Statewide Underage Drinking Task Force, the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club, St. Michael’s Center, the Domestic Violence Task Force, Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Committee at EMMC, the Family Self-Sufficiency Advisory Board and the Maine Discovery Museum. His involvement with each of those agencies is not just a one-day thing.

Yardley and his wife, Rita, are parents to four biological and three adopted children ranging in age from 4 to 21. He is an involved parent and active at his church, St. Mary’s in Bangor. He coaches youth sports, serves as a volunteer counselor at YMCA’s Camp Jordan and is a booster for various school- and church-based events.

. Eastern Agency on Aging has spent the last 31 years providing necessary and critical assistance to the older persons of Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Washington Counties.

EAA community service consultants have saved seniors thousands of dollars a year by helping them enroll in government benefit programs for which they were eligible but knew nothing about. The EAA Emergency Fund provides seniors with interest-free loans to pay for expensive, unexpected bills, such as critical home repairs. Meals for ME provides hot, well-balanced noontime meals in 43 community dining rooms and to countless shut-ins.

Those who care for seniors also receive support from EAA. Through the Family Caregiver Support program, adult children rest easier while maintaining their parents’ level of care.

EAA accomplishes its mission with only 100 staff members. More than 800 volunteers are a critical part of what makes EAA happen. Volunteers are trained, supported and formally thanked on a regular basis. With the senior population about to increase dramatically with the aging of baby boomers, services provided by EAA are expected to become more important in the future.

Jim Clunan and Jack Drake, both of Mt. Desert Island, will also receive awards for their contributions as volunteers.

2 Those Who Care was developed by WLBZ 2 in partnership with the United Way of Eastern Maine. The program is sponsored by Merrill Bank and Webber Energy Fuels.