PATTEN -- Katahdin Valley Health Center (KVHC) employees joined together to share Thanksgiving with others in the communities that KVHC serves. Together, KVHC employees donated $450; KVHC generously matched each dollar that employees contributed. The $900 allowed employees to purchase 45 Thanksgiving dinners for area families. Dinners included a turkey with all the fixings, fruit cocktail, cranberry sauce, potatoes, carrots, peas, rolls and butter, and a pie with whipped cream for dessert.

KVHC employees cheerfully volunteered to deliver the Thanksgiving dinners with every best wish for a Happy Thanksgiving to families in Benedicta, Millinocket, East Millinocket, Medway, Mattawamkeag, Lincoln, Crystal, Patten, Sherman, Silver Ridge, Smyrna, Mattawamkeag, Moro, Mount Chase, Benedicta, Island Falls and Houlton. All 18 employees who delivered the 45 dinners indicate that families who received the dinners were most appreciative.

In the spirit of the season, KVHC employees are participating in the U.S. Marine Reserve Toys For Tots program, collecting toys for children who may not otherwise have a bright Christmas. Each KVHC clinic has a box in its lobby specifically for this program where anyone wishing to share in the joy of giving can donate toys, unwrapped, to the Toys For Tots program.

The Toys For Tots program is organized by the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Marine Reserves. It is an IRS recognized 501 (c)3 not-for-profit public charity.

The primary goal of Toys For Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to youngsters to motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders and experience the joy of Christmas.

Anyone wishing to purchase a new toy for a youngster is welcome to place it, unwrapped, in a Toys For Tots box at any KVHC location. Local Marine Reserve members and coordinators will distribute the toys in time for Christmas to area children, making Christmas Day a little brighter for many of our area youth.

Katahdin Valley Health Center (KVHC) is a provider of high quality, cost effective primary health, dental, substance abuse and mental health care to the people in the Greater Katahdin Region. A Federally Qualified Health Center, KVHC is a nonprofit business governed by a board of directors, comprised of area volunteers, funded by a federal grant under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. KVHC employs 65 people at its facilities in Millinocket, Patten, Island Falls and Houlton.