Some people always seem to go above and beyond the expected. Take Rosemarie LeGasse and Robin Long of Caring Connections, who will explore every possible avenue to share information.

Caring Connections, a cooperative women’s health program of the Bangor Y and Eastern Maine Medical Center, offers services to women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer or are concerned about osteoporosis and bone health.

But now, thinking outside the proverbial box, the dynamic duo of Caring Connections is taking on end-of-life issues through a four-part informational series titled, “Getting Your Stuff Together.”

“Working with the Encore people [the breast cancer support group] who are facing life-threatening illness, we realize that many of them were not really prepared for it,” said LeGasse, Caring Connections’ director. “We would have speakers come in to discuss these topics and a large group show up. There is definitely a need out there for end-of-life information.”

LeGasse and Long, assistant director of Caring Connections, had an idea in mind. They wanted the sessions to be informative, short and free, and include lunch.

Enter the International Paper Co. Foundation, which supplied a generous grant to make the dream a reality.

“It’s just wonderful,” said LeGasse. “The company really cares about people, their employees, and the community.”

The first session, “Wills and Estate Planning” with Leigh McCarthy of Rudman and Winchell, will be held Thursday, March 24. McCarthy points out that if people do not have wills, the state has one for them called Rules of Intestacy. In that case, your property may go to persons who you prefer not have it.

Session two, also with McCarthy, covers “Advance Health Care Directives” and will be held Tuesday, March 29. If you become so ill that you can no longer make decisions regarding your own health care, your doctor is required to refer to your Advanced Health Care Directive, if you have one, or consult your surrogate.

The third session, “Hospice and Home Care” with Wayne Melanson, director of volunteer services at Hospice of Eastern Maine, will be held Wednesday, April 6. “Hospice is a special kind of care available to people whose illness is no longer responding to aggressive curative treatments,” said Melanson.

And finally, session four on “Palliative Care” with Jan Pilotte, palliative care coordinator at EMMC, will be held Monday, April 11. Learn the difference between hospice and palliative care.

All the sessions are at 12:15 p.m. on the third floor of the Bangor Y, Second Street. Again, this series, including lunch, was made possible by International Paper.

You can come to one session or all sessions, but you must register, as seating is limited. And there will be an assortment of delicious choices for lunch, said LeGasse.

A nice lunch and important information – Caring Connections has done it again.

“Well, we always try to fill the needs of the people we serve,” said LeGasse. You don’t have to be a participant of Caring Connections or a member of the Bangor Y to come to the seminars, she added. For information, call the Bangor Y at 941-2808 and ask for Caring Connections

Isn’t it wonderful to feel really appreciated for something you’ve done? That is just how the volunteer Meals for Me drivers feel every time they deliver a meal to a homebound senior.

Now you have a chance to share that joy. Meals for Me needs delivery drivers in the Bangor area, and dining room help in Holden. It doesn’t take much time, but the good feeling can last all day. Call us and ask about being a Meals for Me volunteer.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.