Hi Everyone,

I belong to a Native American organization called UNACC (United Native American Cultural Center) located in Devons, MA. This organization has been helping me to learn my own native cultural traditions and has become a close community to me. I can personally vouch for the great work they do both in promoting native culture and for their charity work within native communities.

Three or four times per year, we fill a truck with food and bring it to the Mi’kmaq Aroostook reserve in Maine. A few years ago, our chief (Roland Jerome) was visiting the reserve and noticed that elders he visited were not eating. (Many were in fact paying for heating oil instead of food.) The reserves are very isolated communities and are often forgotten by charitable organizations. Many have little money and food is often sacrificed for other necessities.

After seeing this, Roland organized a food drive and it has been going on since then. This Wednesday, we will be bringing another truck and are asking for donations, either for non perishable food items or money, which will be used to help transport the food and to buy more when they arrive. On our last visit earlier this spring, we helped 32 families of elders and young children. I am hoping that some of you out there may be able to help out by making donations. The people in the community are very grateful for this help and have come to depend on our visits few as they may be.

I will be at church on Sunday and if anyone would like to donate non perishable food items, I can pick them up then. If you would like to make a monetary contribution, you can make a check payable to UNACC. They are grateful for any amount you can give. Thanks everyone!

Heather Moretz