Support program for grieving children

BANGOR – Pathfinders: Support for Grieving Children, has announced its fall 2006 session, to be held 6-7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, through Monday, Dec. 4, at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Essex Street. Visit www.pathfindersmaine.org for location directions.

The 10-week session provides grief support for children and their families or caregivers experiencing the death of a loved one. Adults who attend with children meet in their own groups. Teens may attend on their own as long as they have the consent of a caregiver.

Celebrating its 12th year, Pathfinders was founded by Maria Brountas and the late Barbara Eames. The program provides special bereavement support geared specifically for children ages 3-18.

To help defray costs, there is a $50 fee per family with a limited number of scholarships available.

Volunteers are still needed to help facilitate the session. Facilitators are specially trained to meet the needs of grieving children. For more information on attending a session or volunteering, call Linda Boyle at 973-8269.

Diabetes support group

BANGOR – A free diabetes support group sponsored by St. Joseph Healthcare will feature guest speaker Bonnie Wheelden, clinical research coordinator of the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education. Her topic will be “Osteoporosis and Diabetes.” The group will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Diabetes and Nutrition Center, Building 1, St. Joseph Healthcare Park, 900 Broadway, Bangor. The group meets the first Thursday of each month.

Support group members share their personal experiences relating to diabetes management, stress reduction techniques and daily coping skills. Diabetes educators are available to facilitate meetings and provide updates on nutrition, exercise, medications and supplies, and to answer questions. The group is open to individuals with diabetes and their family members. For more information, call 262-1836.

Maine Center on Deafness

The Maine Center on Deafness is a nonprofit organization that has been serving Maine’s Deaf, hard of hearing, nonverbal and other individuals who have difficulty using a conventional telephone since 1988. Current scheduled events include one for 11 a.m-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, Alpha One, 1048 Union St., Bangor.

For Sign Language interpreting or Computer Assisted Real Time captioning services, RSVP two weeks in advance. For more information, visit www.mcdmaine.org, or call Alyssa Gagnon at (800) 639-3884, Ext. 109 voice, Ext. 309 tty.

Blood donation

BANGOR – Eastern Maine Medical Center will set up its mobile blood donation center 10 a.m-3 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at Unicel, 6 Telcom Drive in Bangor. For every unit of blood collected at Unicel, EMMC will donate $2 to the Children’s Miracle Network. Donors should bring a photo ID. Refreshments will be available.

Blood drive

CORINTH – An American Red Cross Services blood drive will be held 2-7 p.m. Aug. 1, at Central High School in Corinth.

The Bangor Blood Donation Center, 900B Hammond St., is open to blood donors noon-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays. For more information, call (800) 432-7376 or 974-8870.

Through state grants and funds, the center provides specialized telephone and emergency alert equipment to residents of Maine free or at a reduced cost.

Staff at the center recognize that Maine is a very large state, and in order to best serve clients both far and wide, the center is taking a new approach.

Beginning in August, the third week of each month, center staff will travel to bring services to different regions across the state. Services include appointments for communications equipment and emergency notification system programs, equipment training, advocacy workshops, Hamilton Relay presentations and more.