With a noticeably increased demand for food by members of the community, the City of Brewer Holiday Food Drive is going to be even more important this year, reports coordinator Drew Sachs.

His goal for this year’s drive is to break the record of 6,000 food items and several thousand dollars collected last year through the city and school departments.

In his letter to fellow employees and students, Sachs remarked, “People in need are counting on us!”

Nonperishable food items and cash donations can be left during regular business hours at Brewer Auditorium or placed in bins outside Sachs’ office at Brewer City Hall.

Cash and check donations, he reports, should be left with him in his office. Checks for this project should be made out to City of Brewer Holiday Food Drive.

And, as an extra added incentive for you to participate, for every 10 nonperishable items or $5 in donated funds, you will be entered in a raffle to win a $50 gift certificate to the Muddy Rudder restaurant.

Sachs is Brewer’s economic development director.

For more information, call his office at 989-7500.

Viola Sargent and members of the First Congregational Church of Ellsworth invite you to its annual Christmas fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the church on Church Street.

“We will have our tea room open, and our specialties are partridgeberry bowls and many other crafts,” she said.

Lisa Goggins of Levant hopes you will visit the Raffle and Bake Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at Dysart’s on Coldbrook Road in Hermon.

Proceeds from the fund-raiser will help purchase holiday gifts for young patients at Acadia Hospital and in the pediatric unit at Eastern Maine Medical Center, both in Bangor.

Congratulations to members of those two wonderful local organizations that make our holidays so special: our historic Bangor Symphony Orchestra and Robinson Ballet Company.

The two celebrate their 20th anniversary of “The Nutcracker” with performances at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at Maine Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono.

Tickets are $32 for adults and $24 for children.

For ticket information, call the BSO box office at 942-5555 or (800) 639-3221, or visit bangorsymphony.com.

B.J. Bachman of Bucksport and fellow members of the Bangor Garden Club cordially invite you to attend its Holiday Celebration Luncheon, Meeting & Yankee Gift Swap at noon Monday, Dec. 6, at Miller’s Restaurant in Bangor.

You are asked to keep the cost of your gift swap item under $10, and to bring an unwrapped gift for patients of Bangor Mental Health Institute.

Bachman told me that Garden Club meetings “are open to anyone” and that members of the public “are invited to attend any meeting anytime, especially if there is a topic that is of interest to you.”

“You don’t have to be a member to attend,” she said, “but the BGC always welcomes new members, especially those interested in making Bangor more beautiful, not only through the surroundings of their own homes, but in BGC projects that improve the life and quality of Bangor.”

Erica Morse reports PATAWA Club is hosting its annual holiday auction at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, at Bangor Motor Inn and Convention Center on Hogan Road.

Tickets, including dinner, are $20 per person, and a cash bar will be available.

Proceeds benefit PATAWA’s general fund “which is dispersed among needy organizations in the Bangor area at the end of the year,” Morse explained.

If you are interested in attending the auction, or learning more about PATAWA and its activities, call Janet Morse, 942-9132 or Debbie Eremita, 941-8093.

Project co-chairs John Graves and Sherri Wilcox ask those who are able, to support the Presque Isle Kiwanis Club’s annual Community Christmas Basket project.

Each year, this club provides food and gifts for needy members of the community.

This year, food for 132 families will be supplied along with Christmas packages for 215 children that will include toys, gifts and mittens.

Donations can be sent to the Community Christmas Fund, c/o Presque Isle Kiwanis Club, P.O. Box 361, Presque Isle 04769.

Graves and Wilcox thank you in advance for helping make this project a success, and wish you happy holidays.

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