BANGOR, Maine — Some people spend the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays surrounded by the people that they love the most, but for others like active-duty soldiers, the holidays can be lonely.
Owner of Box of Maine Daniel Finnemore is continuing his second annual "Sponsor a Maine Soldier Box" initiative, which helps send gift boxes to Maine active-duty soldiers, giving them a taste of home.
Box of Maine is an online mail-order business that creates custom gift boxes.
This year, Finnemore said his goal is to send gift holiday gift boxes to 400 Maine soldiers. Through the Sponsor a Maine Soldier Box initiative, soldiers receive items like Whoppie Pies, Moxie soda, Humpdy Dumpdy chips, jam, syrup, jerky, and more.
Finnemore said the gift boxes help Maine soldiers feel close to their loved ones while they're miles and miles away from home.
"They open it up. They share it with their other soldiers," Finnemore said. "Because everywhere you go in Maine specifically you can find Moxie. You can find Whoppie Pies, jam syrup, Humpdy Dumpdy chips—they are the staples of the state of Maine."
Finnemore said he started the started the effort late last year with a goal of sending boxes to 100 active-duty soldiers, but he came up short. He said he was only able to send 50 boxes—quickly realizing that he needed more backing and financial support.
"We didn't get enough behind it because the demand is so large," Finnemore said. "Everybody knows somebody whether it's a husband, wife, son, daughter, friend, that is serving in our active-duty armed forces that are going to be gone for the holidays."
This year Finnemore is partnering with sponsors like Bangor Savings Bank, VOLK Packaging Corporation, Smoke and Steel, Maine Military Supply and Sue Roberts Realty of Maine.
"It came very quick to me that this was way bigger than me," Finnemore said. "I could only do so much myself. I needed to reach out to the community for help, and that's what we're doing. It's been such a blessing because people have stepped up, and people are willing to join together and [do] good together."
Bangor Savings Bank community relations manager Gavin Robinson said they're making sure nothing stands in the way of showing appreciation for those risking their lives.
"It's a piece of home that's showing up wherever they're deployed around the country or around the world," Robinson said. "For us it's about just removing obstacles for folks that want to send care packages to soldiers that are deployed and being able to be an integral part of our community."
Finnemore said his dad was a soldier, and he knows how good it made his dad feel to receive care packages. He said with the help of this years sponsors and with the support of the community, Mainers can pull together to put a smile on the face of several soldiers.
"Maine is filled with hardworking people that join together and we work together to get through the difficult times," Finnemore said.
If you want to get involved and sponsor a soldier you can click here.
The cost to sponsor a soldier starts at $24.99. Those who choose to sponsor a soldier can pick items to include in the gift box, and a box will be shipped off to one of 400 Maine soldiers on the sendoff list.
Businesses can also still become a sponsor of the initiative. To become a sponsor, email customerservice@boxofmaine.com