Lt. Elizabeth Nicoll, who runs the Houlton branch with her husband Dominic, said last week that collections have been down across the board.
“The bad whether the last couple days coupled with the lack of volunteers is making it very hard for us to collect donations,” she said. “We are in desperate need of volunteers.”
On Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the location outside of Walmart, the Houlton branch is participating in a state-wide “Kettle Blitz,” along with other branches in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Simply by participating, the local branch receives $1,000 from the corporate headquarters, Nicoll explained. And if the Houlton location wins, it will receive an additional $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second or $1,000 for third.
The winner of the Kettle Blitz is determined based on how many donations are collected at one single location during the day. If the collections are the highest, based on percentages, the local chapter wins.
“We have Katahdin Trust Bank standing for most of the day and helping us out with it,” Nicoll said. “We are also going to have an ugly sweater contest where people can come and have their picture taken with the bell ringers. We will then post it on our Facebook page and the person with the most ‘likes’ will win a special prize.”
For more information, or to volunteer to be a bell ringer, call the Houlton branch at 532-2322.
