PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A Facebook group distributed nearly 200 Christmas stockings full of gifts to children across Aroostook County over the weekend.
Members of the Dusting kids in Aroostook County group gave out the stockings in the parking lot of Marden’s in Presque Isle on Friday and Saturday afternoons. The initiative was led by Donna Gurley and Nicole Townsend — who moderate the Dusting Kids in Aroostook County group — with significant help from Terrie Caron and her daughter Abby Cloney, all of Presque Isle.
The group — started in August — sends gifts to local children, “dusting” them. The phrase comes from fairy dust, known in fictional portrayals to help make dreams come true. It is one of several community-based Facebook groups that has recently emerged in Aroostook County, including Beers for the bearded – Aroostook, which sent 20 families Thanksgiving turkeys last month.
The actions of Dusting Kids — as well as similar Aroostook-based groups — show the organizing capability of social media in rural communities. It also represents one of several charity efforts launched amid severe loss in Aroostook County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each stocking contained a number of items — from toys to clothes to snacks — with the group creating variants for boys and girls as well as various age groups. Barbie dolls, bath bombs, socks, candle-making sets, Cheetos, coloring books, Hot Wheels cars, M&Ms, Goldfish packages and teddy bears were among the items included.
Brittany Chapman, left, thanks Donna Gurley, right, after receiving a gift from her as part of a gift giveaway outside Marden’s in Presque Isle. (David Marino Jr. | The Star-Herald)
While they contributed much of their own time and money to the effort, group leaders were helped by several donations from members, many of whom also notified their enlisted family and friends for contributions to the project. Most donations were from Aroostook County residents but came from as far away as Massachusetts and the Carolinas.
Many recipients were in the Presque Isle area, but the group’s stockings made their way from Houlton to Madawaska — some group members even personally transported the gifts to families in those locations.
Gurley said she and other group leaders were trying to put smiles on children’s faces during a difficult time. Already hit with unemployment from the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last few weeks had seen a rise in COVID-19 cases in Aroostook County, including an outbreak at the Presque Isle Rehab and Nursing Center in which five residents have died.
“We’ve seen how people are having such a hard time,” Gurley said. “We just needed to do something. With the community helping, it’s a blessing.”
Nicole Townsend acknowledged that charitable drives such as the stocking giveaway are not always easy and can even be stressful. Yet, she said it was all worth it.
“As a child, I never had a lot,” Townsend. “I know what it’s like to go without and what the struggle is, and I feel like I need to give back myself.
Several parents posted photos of their ecstatic children and teenagers holding their stockings in the group over the weekend. One mother thanked the group for “brightening my daughter’s year.”
Terrie Caron — who Gurley said is set to take on a leadership position in the group — said their efforts were simply about treating others with compassion during a difficult time.
“Christmas is supposed to be about love and caring,” Caron said. “That’s what we need right now with everything going on with the pandemic.”
