Without doubt, members of the Millinocket Area Rotary Club have set their goal high for their fourth Benefit Auction, which is planned for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at St. Martin of Tours Church Hall in Millinocket.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Katahdin Area Support Group and, if the Rotarians are successful in meeting their $20,000 goal, the KASG should have enough money to obtain a permanent site to store the medical equipment it loans to cancer patients in the area.

The Rotarians are confident they can raise the funds through this one event.

Publicity chairwoman Barbara Waters said she believes that goal is reachable, and she has good cause to believe so.

“Several years ago, we set a goal of $25,000 for a thermal imaging camera, and we raised that,” she said.

The auction has become a popular event, Waters said of the interest it generates, and Rotarians are doing all they can to ensure that interest remains high.

Featured items on the auction block include memorabilia from the old Stearns High School building, and it’s a sure bet auctioneer Kermit Cote will get all he can for everything up for bid.

A prime-beef dinner catered by chef Judy Ingersoll also is included in the event.

Other items waiting for a successful bid range from floral arrangements to mirrors, fishing flies, oil, a time share and even an autographed tie from Gov. Angus King.

More items would certainly be welcome, Waters said of contributions of any new item or gift certificates, weekend get-away packages or other donations to help make the event a success.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can call Waters at 723-8118.

Corporate sponsors for the auction are Millinocket Regional Hospital and Katahdin Federal Credit Union. Business support also has come from Millinocket Machine and Foundry, club president Dr. Larry Lankhorst, Bee-Line Cable TV and Millinocket lawyer Dean Beaupain.

Waters also believes attendance at and participation in the auction will be good because “this cause is particularly near and dear to many people in this area.”

And well it should be.

For 14 years, KASG has been helping cancer patients in the area with everything from the loan of medical equipment to transportation for treatments and picking up medicines.

Waters also said that during January, 529 items, representing three-fourths of its medical equipment inventory, was out on loan, free, to Katahdin Region residents.

That equipment includes such items as air mattresses, baby monitors, chemotherapy and shower chairs, wheelchairs, wigs and walkers.

Last summer, KASG volunteers made more than 500 trips to Bangor to bring patients to hospitals or medical appointments. Sometimes, that meant twice daily trips for a single patient.

Each Christmas, KASG provides fruit baskets to widows and widowers of cancer victims. Community support for this project is demonstrated by the fact that local Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, or high school students make many of the deliveries.

Area church groups sew bedding and hospital johnnies for patients and, once a month, local church members deliver bread through “Operation Bread Basket.” Different churches supply different ingredients from which the bread is made.

Always in a confidential and prudent manner, KASG also makes financial gifts from the contributions it receives to fill a cancer patient’s specific or pressing need.

And, as a support group, under the leadership of Jackie McAdam of Millinocket, the organization also provides an opportunity for people to share their fears and find understanding.

McAdam said KASG “really needs a permanent place to store our equipment,” and that funds raised through the auction should enable it to obtain such a site.

That will be a great relief to the all-volunteer organization, which serves people not only in Millinocket, East Millinocket and Medway, but also cancer patients living in communities such as Sherman, Patten, Danforth, Kingman and Macwahoc, McAdam said.

Everyone involved with both the Rotary and KASG is working hard to make this fund-raiser a success, McAdam said.

You can support the good work of KASG by making a donation to the Rotary Club Benefit Auction, attending the event on March 8, or by sending a contribution to Katahdin Area Support Group, 10 Field St., Millinocket 04462.

Representatives of Maine-A-Wish Foundation of Maine, based in Camden, are conducting informational meetings to discuss a new fund-raiser for the organization, “Walk for Wishes.”

Since the Maine chapter first organized in 1992, nearly 300 Maine children have had their wishes granted by the organizations at an average cost of $5,500.

As more people learn about the opportunities provided by Make-A-Wish, more wishes are being requested, and granted.

Tom Peaco, executive director of the Maine Chapter of Make-A-Wish, said recently that the organization has experienced an increase in the number of wishes requested and granted for Penobscot and Hancock county residents as more people hear about the organization.

An informational meeting about the new fund-raiser was conducted recently in Ellsworth, but one planned for Bangor had to be postponed due to the weather.

Peaco reports that the rescheduled informational meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, at the Holiday Inn on Main Street in Bangor.

The group stresses that all funds raised by Make-A-Wish, in Maine stay in our state to grant the wishes of seriously ill Maine children.

If you are interested in attending this meeting, call Make-A-Wish at (800) 491-3171.

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

990-8288.