Pack the Bus today at Shaw’s

LEWISTON/AUBURN — On Saturday, Nov. 17, donations will be collected outside of Shaw’s in Lewiston and Auburn from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The food will benefit the St. Mary’s Food Pantry, 208 Bates St., Lewiston. The shelves are bare and the holiday is less than a week away.

‘Asian Pivot’ film to be shown

BRUNSWICK — Regis Tremblay will present a short film on the history and significance of the five-year-old protest by the villagers of Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island, South Korea, where a huge naval base to accommodate President Obama’s “Asian Pivot” is being constructed.

The presentation, which is open to the public, will be in the Morrell Community Room at Curtis Memorial Library on Sunday, Nov. 18, from 3 to 5 p.m. For more information call 371-2077.

The base is destroying a bio-diverse region of the world protected by UNESCO and the South Korean government. The base will also bring an end to a centuries-old way of life for the farmers and fishermen of this village and the surrounding villages.

Tremblay will argue that Jeju, the Island of Peace, is a microcosm of the U.S. imperial agenda to impose a Pax Americana on the planet through the use of overwhelming military force on the land, the sea, in the air and in space.

Christmas Auction supports troops

BATH — The sixth annual Gifts of Gratitude Troop Support Christmas Auction will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, at American Legion Post 21, 200 Congress Ave. The event is open to the public.

There will be refreshments and raffles. A $5 donation will be taken for the door prize.

The event is to raise funds and collect comfort supplies to be shipped to troops. The group has shipped 644 packages totaling 5,386 pounds of supplies.

Group joins #GivingTuesday

PORTLAND — The Maine Community Foundation is taking part in #GivingTuesday, a first-of-its-kind effort to harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners — charities, families, businesses, and individuals — to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season.

Taking place Tuesday, Nov. 27, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday seeks to harness the power of social media to create a nationwide movement to encourage giving.

For #GivingTuesday, the Maine Community Foundation is encouraging residents to invest in Maine through gifts of time or treasure to their favorite local organizations or to support statewide projects through the foundation’s Invest in Maine Fund or its county and regional funds. The community foundation is also hosting an Inspiring Philanthropy program on Monday, Nov. 26, featuring former Sen. George Mitchell discussing the role of philanthropy in higher education in Maine.

For more information, visit www.givingtuesday.org or www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday, or follow the #GivingTuesday hashtag on Twitter.

Cancer Society seeks drivers

LEWISTON — The American Cancer Society is now recruiting volunteers throughout Maine to ensure that all cancer patients have transportation to and from their treatments. The Road to Recovery program became a national program in 1983. Volunteer drivers have provided thousands of cancer patients with life-saving rides to their treatment appointments.

Whether you are available once a month or once a week, even for an hour, you can be a Road to Recovery volunteer. Interested volunteers are asked to attend an information session on Wednesday, Dec. 5, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. or from 5:30  to 7 p.m. at Kaplan University.

For more information or to register for a training session, contact Terry Baker at 207-373-33716 or by email to Terry.Baker@cancer.org.

NFB Scholarship offered

STATEWIDE — To recognize achievement by blind students, the National Federation of the Blind invites applications to the national scholarship program from freshmen beginning college this fall on up through grad school level. Thirty top students will receive scholarships from $3,000 to $12,000 along with a trip to the national convention in Orlando in July.

The contest deadline is March 31. To begin, go to www.nfb.org/scholarships.