AUGUSTA — The Maine Army National Guard has scaled back its 14-year involvement with an annual food drive, but it has not pulled out entirely.
Mike Higgins, digital managing editor for B98.5, said early Monday that the Guard has ended its relationship with “Tanksgiving” after 14 years of cooperation with the station. Higgins said the National Guard made the decision Sunday, the day before the food drive began.
Additional Images
“I wasn’t aware of it until (Monday) morning,” Higgins said. “I don’t know why it happened.”
However, Guard public information officer Capt. Norman Stickney said later Monday that the Guard is still supporting the project. “It will supply a tent (for the collections site) and provide the same property.”
Stickney said the Guard will not be providing its trucks, which cost fuel as well as soldier labor. “With budget cuts we simply cannot do that any more. We need to have all the resources available to train soldiers and airmen to respond for any state or national emergency.”
While Higgins said the weeklong food drive was continuing, it was not clear what would happen with the encampment at the tank located on Camp Keyes’ property along Airport Road. The tank helped dub the food drive “Tanksgiving.”
The food drive was to be staffed by members of the Maine Army National Guard and B98.5 personality Randy McCoy. It was to be the 14th year the Guard and radio station joined forces on the food drive. Last year the drive raised 6.5 tons of food.
Higgins on Sunday praised the National Guard for its assistance. He said the station “couldn’t get it done without the huge assist from the Guard.”
Higgins said Monday the drive, which seeks non-perishable food items, will continue at a number of locations, including:
• Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Goggins IGA, 268 Water St., Randolph, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at George’s Banana Stand, 121 North Ave., Skowhegan;
• Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Shaw’s on Western Avenue in Augusta and Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville;
• Thursday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Walmart in Augusta and Farmington.
Higgins said donations also will be accepted at the radio station located at 56 Western Ave. in Augusta.
Food donated to the drive will stay in the community.
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
Twitter: @CraigCrosby4
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.