Student organizes relief project for Chinese pupils

Late last month, I received a letter from Andrea Edmondson, a 2004 graduate of Greenville High School, who has just finished her first year of college at West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon, W.Va.

Before entering college, however, she traveled with family members to Asia, visiting China and Thailand, on what she considered “the trip of a lifetime.”

Of all the places she visited, from Tiananmen Square to the Great Wall, “the one place that touched me most was visiting a middle school in Ghangzhou,” Edmondson wrote of the city also known as Canton.During a scholarship ceremony sponsored by an American and a Chinese company at the 4,000-pupil school, she learned that if funds are not available for families to send their children to high school, “the Chinese government assigns them jobs, many of which are factory jobs,” Edmondson wrote.

She enjoyed meeting the children, some of whom spoke “quite fluent English,” and wrote of their excitement and eagerness to meet Americans. “They were so nice, and very bright,” she said.

During her second semester at WVWC, the business major joined Students in Free Enterprise, which embraces the motto, “changing the world.”

SIFE members “use what they learn in the classrooms to help their community, their state, country, even the world,” Edmondson explained.

Within a week of joining SIFE, Edmondson had formulated an idea to help the eager pupils she met in China.

She founded Supporting Education Abroad in Ghangzhou and wrote to the two companies – COD Novelties and New Kwok Kwong Plastic Factory – asking for sponsorship of the team through donations of products they could sell. In return, she wrote, “we would give all the profits to the students in the Ghangzhou middle school as scholarships.”

Her project was accepted by the companies, and it is SIFE’s goal to provide at least one pupil with a scholarship to continue his or her education in high school.

The companies provided three products: bookmarks, key rings and cards, each with Christian and inspirational themes.

In Maine, the products are available at Shepherd’s Path in Bangor and Mud Puddle Mercantile in Greenville.

Bookmarks also are available at the Shaw Public Library in Greenville, and Edmondson has plans to place products in Waterville and Augusta area outlets this summer, “in hopes of broadening the project,” she wrote.

If you are interested in buying products or volunteering for the project, visit one of the outlets above, write Andrea Edmondson, P.O. Box 514, Greenville 04441, call her at 695-4485 or e-mail AndreaHeidi04@hotmail.com.

Beautiful Caribbean sounds will float across Penobscot Bay from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, June 27, when Flash in the Pans performs at Fort Point Lighthouse at Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs.

The concert will be hosted by the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

During the event, members of the Stockton Springs Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts will sell refreshments to raise funds for uniforms and camp.

Carl Chase directs the Blue Hill community band that he organized.

Jeri Cole reports “the diverse members of the band volunteer their time to play benefit concerts” every Monday night in the summer along the Maine coast.

For information about the band, visit http://peninsulapan.org. For information about the concert, call Cole at 567-3356.

Skip and Susan Sprague, Down East representatives of Maine Greyhound Placement Service, wrote to the Bangor Daily News to publicly thank Dr. David Cloutier, the staff of Veazie Veterinary Clinic, and several volunteers who came to the rescue of some racetrack greyhounds.

The Spragues said the greyhound racetrack in Plainfield, Conn., is closing and that many dogs will “retire or be petted out.”

MGPS “responded to early requests for assistance” by bringing 12 dogs to its Augusta adoption kennel facility, and it was Dr. Cloutier, his staff and those volunteers who “provided medical care and spay-neuter services” for those dogs, “at no cost to MGPS,” the Spragues wrote.

“Thank you Veazie Veterinary Clinic! You have a beautiful facility – modern, bright and exceptionally well-equipped. We really appreciate the help.”

The Spragues also pointed out that “plans are in the works to bring as many as 100 dogs in the coming months” to the Augusta facility.

“This will put a strain on fiscal resources and our volunteer staff, but we feel up to the challenge,” they wrote.

If you would like more information about MGPS, write to the Spragues at P.O. Box 196, 34 Walters Road, Gouldsboro 04607, or call them at 963-2919.

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