Maine Seacoast Mission Continues Holiday Tradition

As it has for more than 100 years, the Maine Seacoast Mission will be providing holiday gifts to children, families, the elderly and others in Downeast Maine this month.

Photo courtesy of Maine Seacoast Mission.

The Maine Seacoast Mission works among the islands along the eastern coast and coastal communities of Downeast Maine. It provides health services via its vessel, the Sunbeam, to is a mainstay on the islands of Matinicus, Monhegan, Isle au Haut, Frenchboro, Swan’s Island, Great Cranberry, and Islesford.

The Mission was founded by Mount Desert Island pastors and brothers Alexander and Angus MacDonald in 1905. The two men sailed a small sloop called Hope to islands and lighthouses along the Maine coast, intent on relieving the desolate conditions they often found there.

Through the Seacoast Mission's Christmas Program, families in the region can select gifts for one another or receive requested items. All gifts are wrapped, as per Mission tradition, in white parchment paper tied with red string. Generous donors bring or send new items to the Mission throughout the year; items may also be purchased online for the Mission to distribute.

In 2024, 4,300 gifts were distributed to 779 individuals in Hancock and Washington Counties, and on outer, unbridged islands.

Parents or guardians can enroll children under 18 years old in the Christmas Program. The last day to sign up to receive gifts is Wednesday, December 17.

Once a request is received, the family is contacted by Mission staff who help parents and guardians choose a day for them to shop for presents at the Mission’s Cherryfield office or set up a time when items chosen by volunteers can be either picked up or delivered in the Mission’s service area.

The Christmas Program serves the following towns: Addison, Beals Island, Cherryfield, Columbia/Columbia Falls, Deblois, Harrington, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Milbridge, Machias, Steuben, MDI, the outer Islands supported by the Sunbeam, and EdGE program families.

For information, visit https://seacoastmission.org/downeast/christmas-program or call Kaysie Logan at 598-6799.