Bangor Savings donates $11,000 to help displaced G-P millworkers

OLD TOWN – Additional help is on the way for the more than 450 people who have found themselves out of work since the March 16 closing of the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill.

Bangor Savings Bank officials presented donations Wednesday totaling more than $11,000 to assist local organizations in their efforts to help displaced workers directly and indirectly affected by the mill closure.

“Those affected by this economic upheaval from the G-P mill closing are our co-workers, families, customers, friends, and neighbors,” Jim Conlon, the bank’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday.

When G-P announced more than four months ago that it was closing the Old Town facility, it also announced the shutdown of four affiliated G-P chip mills that provided product to the mill.

Of the funds donated, $5,000 will go to the Penobscot County Transition Team, which will put the money toward supporting an additional peer support worker to assist workers with outreach and benefits eligibility through the Bangor CareerCenter.

“I can tell you that the additional peer support worker, made possible by Bangor Savings Bank’s generosity, will help greatly in servicing the needs of the hundreds of families and individuals directly and indirectly displaced by the cessation of operations at the Old Town pulp and paper mill, and at the chip plants in Houlton, Portage, Milo and Costigan,” Dan Bird, the local papermakers union vice president and the peer support worker at the Bangor CareerCenter, said Wednesday.

The position will be funded with the bank’s donation for the next four to six weeks until the status of the pulp mill reopening is announced or requested federal funds materialize to cover the cost.

Officials from Cascades Inc. of Montreal, the company believed to be the frontrunner in purchasing the mill, were expected Monday to present their proposed business plan to board members. Negotiations were continuing Wednesday, according to Joy Leach, Gov. John Baldacci’s spokeswoman.

The bank also presented Crossroads Ministries Director Brenda Davis with a check for more than $5,000.

“It will all go toward direct items that are needed,” Davis said. The money will be used to purchase meats, laundry detergent and other items to help individuals and families who seek assistance.

Davis explained that she’s seeing more and more people come into Crossroads who have been affected by the ripple effect of the mill closure.

At the opposite end, she noted that workers who received more substantial severance packages when the mill closed have been helping out.

“I’ve seen an increase in them coming in and making donations,” Davis said.

Individual Bangor Savings Bank workers also wanted to make a difference by donating the money they give to be able to dress casually on “jeans days.”

The money was presented to the Penquis CAP Good Neighbor Fund and will be used to assist displaced G-P workers as well as meet needs in the broader community, according to Wednesday’s Bangor Savings Bank press release.

“We all continue to hope for the best in terms of the future for the mill operations and all those affected,” Conlon said. “But hope is not a substitute for help now.”