Volunteers of Old Orchard Beach should be recognized with monument

As state representative for Old Orchard Beach, I get invited to many different places all over the state. I often reflect on what I see around our great state. Maine has many caring and giving people, and the generosity of our towns and cities just never ceases to amaze me.

I represent the entirety of Old Orchard Beach, and have observed over my lifetime here that the people of this town go above and beyond in volunteerism and do good things for others. Let’s take a moment to reflect on some of these volunteer groups:

1) Rotary Club of Saco Bay, which collects crutches to send to Africa to help people they have never met be able to walk. Locally, this group raises money to help fund local charities, builds things like the gazebo in Memorial Park, or cleans up recreational parks like Cascade Falls.

2) Old Orchard Beach Alumni Association, which keeps the records for anyone who has ever graduated from or taught at our schools. These volunteers keep our citizens united by hosting the annual class reunion, have the kids of yesteryear take on today’s high school basketball players at the alumni basketball game and have car washes to raise money to give scholarships to graduates.

3) OOB Lion’s Club, with a mission of giving sight to those who cannot see, does fundraisers and gives eyeglasses to people who cannot afford them. They open their hall on Saco Avenue to the Narcotics Anonymous group, and most recently they have given up their hall to the Libby Memorial Library for their temporary location while the new library is being built.

4) Memorial Park Committee, with many members who have worked and continue to work to make Veteran’s Memorial Park beautiful, clean and fun. They fundraise through their luminary night and plant sales, to help make our park what it is today.

5) Ballpark revitalization volunteers, now totaling more than 350 since its resurrection six years ago, who work tirelessly to fix the park, raise money to buy the materials to repair the park and paint the park. These volunteers include the volunteer Ballpark Commission who work to market The Ball Park to events and ball teams.

6) Community Animal Watch is a group of volunteers who raise money to help those who cannot afford to pay for the care of their pets. They get some money from the taxpayers of our community, but the majority of their funding and help comes from volunteers who just care.

7) The food pantries in our community that have no paid staff, and fundraise to help put food on the tables of people who need a little extra help to feed their families. These pantries receive some assistance as well from the taxpayers, but the bulk of their funding comes from tireless fundraising.

8) OOB365 volunteers who help show off Old Orchard Beach as a fun, family friendly, year-round bustling community. This group’s volunteers work as a team to put on great events like Last Blast New Years Ever Beach Party, have fed more than 2,600 people at their free community dinners, donated $5,000 to The Ball Park to help with the revitalization, brings business to the beach by hosting more than 18 Savor the Flavor Progressive Dinner trolley tours ”“ the list goes on and on.

9) The American Legion Fayette Staples Post 57 whose members volunteer to help not only the veterans of our community, but also anyone else who needs it. These men and women of the auxiliary have already served our country and now they are serving our community every day.

10) How about those people who are not part of any particular group, who just volunteer their time or money to help out a cause? For instance, the ramp that was built for a local man who is wheelchair-bound, and the community came together to build it for him for free. Or the kids in Loranger Middle School who put on a free dance for the senior citizens of our community. Or maybe the person who goes to Walmart, goes to the layaway desk and pays off the Christmas presents for someone who they do not even know.

These are the people of Old Orchard Beach and the people I get the pleasure of representing. This is not even a complete list of the people and organizations who have given so much of themselves just because they want to help others. It is time that we recognize the volunteerism and generous nature of the people of Old Orchard Beach. To that end, I would like to create a monument to recognize the volunteer spirit of our community. This monument will stand the test of time to celebrate the people who have made and continue to make our town a beacon of light. The placement of the monument has yet to be determined and will have to be approved by the town officers; however, I would like to bring this idea to the people of Old Orchard Beach to see if they agree that our community members deserve this recognition. If anyone would like to help with this endeavor please contact me at smacdonald@maine.rr.com or call me at 590-4201.

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