50 laptops donated to Lewiston-area teens

LEWISTON – Irving and Judith Isaacson have awarded a gift that’ll keep on giving to 50 high school seniors in Lewiston and Auburn.

On Thursday, the names of 25 lucky students who’ll receive new Dell laptop computers were drawn during an assembly at Lewiston High School. The day before, the same scene played out at Edward Little High School in Auburn.

The drawings were open to college-bound seniors who didn’t already own laptops, courtesy of the L&A Fund, a foundation created by the Isaacsons.

“I’m so excited!” said Laura Martel, 18, one of the winners at Lewiston High. “You can’t explain how it helps so much going to college. Now everything is so high-tech.” Martel plans to study physical education at the University of Maine.

Martel called the Isaacsons’ generosity “a phenomenon.”

Irving Isaacson, 91, said he wanted to give back to the community where he was raised. He graduated from Lewiston High School, Class of ’32.

The Isaacsons, who were guests of honor at the assemblies, raised three children and now have seven grandchildren, all of whom have been, are, or will be going to college. “Obviously, a laptop is a valuable asset,” Irving Isaacson said. “It will help the kids.”

The Isaacsons met during World War II in Germany a few weeks after Judith was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. Judith wrote about her experiences at Auschwitz in “Seed of Sarah: Memoirs of a Survivor.”

Irving Isaacson, an Army captain when they met, brought his Hungarian-born wife to Lewiston in 1946. He became a lawyer, and she became dean of students at Bates College.